Write Where You Are: Sourcing Blog Posts from Your Heart

I think I need to post a blog post more often. People I know tell me they’re amazed I post one twice a week. I don’t know what the “right” posting frequency is, but I do know two things:

1. I don’t think I could come up with more to say more often than I currently do, and

2. I’ve learned to “write where I am.” Or I guess to write about right where I am.

The only way I know to write my posts is to write from my heart. To share what I’m learning and facing. To honestly and hopefully authentically reveal the good and the bad about my experiences. Although I still want readers to gain some value from what I’ve posted, I’ve given up trying to sound smart. It’s too hard to put, and keep, on airs. Anyway, people can smell a fake, even virtually.

So I write where I am – or about right where I am. The blog posts I most love reading on my favorite blogs are the ones about the writer’s human experience. I guess it’s what we all have in common.

I feel the same way about my memoir writing. Maybe I’d be a “better” writer if I tried to be different than I am, or to sound as if I was in a better space than I’m in at a moment, or to tell stories in ways that make me sound good. But I’ve learned in life that realness counts. And I think it should count in writing as well.

It’s funny – I wonder if people will get tired of reading about my struggles. And then I wonder if they’ll get tired of reading about my joy. Or if they’ll tell me I complain too much, or gush too often. I haven’t heard that at all. I’ve had great responses to both. It’s weird – while we all have different stories, there is so much that connects us and unites us. So much we have in common. That’s what I write about, as much as I can.

If you find something to laugh about, capture it on paper (or electronic paper). If you’re brought to tears, chances are someone else will be as well. If you’re facing a challenge your struggle can help someone feel validated, and your triumph can help someone feel hope.

Writing where you are can be easy, because you don’t have to make too much up. But writing where you are can be tough, because you’ll expose the good, the bad, and the ugly. Truth is though, it’s probably only ugly to you.

We’re all on a journey and we’re all on it together – as much as we think we’re alone or different from the rest. Write where you are and share yourself with others. Maybe they’ll write back!

Follow Lisa

Lisa Kohn is the author of the soon to be published, “Way Out,” an autobiographical work about a period in her life which she describes as: “I was raised in and torn between two conflicting, bipolar worlds. There was the world I longed for and lived in on weekends – my mother’s world, which was the fanatical, puritanical cult of the Moonies – and the world I was forced to live in during the week – my father’s world, which was based in sex and drugs and the squalor of life in the East Village of New York City… Way Out chronicles my journey – from my unconventional childhood, through my self-destructive early 20s, through my Way Out to challenges, peace, and healing today. My intention in writing has been to offer hope and potential joy to others who may feel beaten or damaged by their upbringing or circumstances. If by telling my story I can help others find their own Way Out, it has all been worth it.”

She is also an accomplished leadership consultant, executive coach, and keynote speaker with a strong business background and a creative approach. She has over 25 years of experience, including over 15 years direct consulting, coaching, and speaking with Fortune 500 clients in areas of leadership, communication styles, managing change, interpersonal and team dynamics, strategy, and execution.

Lisa has taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia University and New York University’s Stern School of Business, and has been featured in several professional publications.

Blog: http://www.lisakohnwrites.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisakohnwrites

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LisaKohnWrites

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lisakohnccg

Copyright Lisa Kohn 2013. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using this work if it is for a commercial venture. Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Lisa Kohn is the attributed Author.

Filed under: "Writing Lessons from the Writing Life", 2013, Blog Building and Promotion Tagged: author, blog, blogging, creativity, encouragement, goals, ideas, inspiration, Lisa Kohn, motivation, problem solving, success, writer, writing