Please read if you want to write to make a difference

Hi! My name is Jennifer and I am a writer of fiction. I am 35 years old and have been pursuing my dream for over ten years. I studied at Sarah Lawrence College and was signed to a well known literary agent who had a very hands-on, editorial approach; all of these experiences taught me about writing. How to do it well and what the market expects.

I will be sharing all of my experiences with you in order to help you discover your BIGGEST and BEST story. After all, this is the goal of every writer. Whether you wish to be published or just share your story with friends and family, you want your story to be good.

But what I have found in my most recent years as a writer is that studying and honing your craft are not enough. What I have learned is that the way one lives their life–the company they keep, the food they eat, the thoughts they harp on throughout the day are also playing a major role in what goes down on the paper. How you live your life and how you write are two sides of the same coin. They are interchangeable realities that are constantly feeding your writing. So I will be discussing what changes I have made in my life that have made such a difference in terms of POWER as a writer. Yes, writing is POWER. And if you live your life in a certain way, you can garner more of that POWER which will fuel writing you never even knew was possible. You can discover TRUTH that you never knew you had.

One of the first things I learned in my most recent years is that if you want to find your BIGGEST and BEST  story, you must simultaneously find YOURSELF. I’m not talking about the SELF that you see when you look in the mirror. I’m not talking about identifying yourself through class, color, religion, political standing, or even family roots. I’m talking about finding your deepest wisdoms, your greatest prophesies and epiphanies; truths that are not yet out there in the world, because they are unique and belong to only you.

Yes, we all have a very powerful story to tell that is different from all the rest. (You’ll hear agents say this time and time again–they want a voice that is fresh and distinct.)

But finding that story in today’s times is very difficult. We are bombarded by information, we are trained to be visual and to look outward instead of in. We live in a fear culture where most of what we see on television tells us one of these two things: be afraid and consume. If they are not selling us something they are making us fear for our lives. This is a mechanism. To keep you paralyzed. To keep you from living a life that is the exact opposite. A life of freedom and self-awareness and independence-of-mind. This may sound a bit controversial but here’s the first thing you need to know as a writer: those thoughts you have swimming in the back of your mind–the ones that you fear to speak out loud because you don’t want to sound controversial–you need to LET THEM OUT!!!!

Great writing comes from FREEDOM.

Don’t worry who disagrees with your story. In fact, the more you feel as if you are placing yourself in the line of fire as a writer, the better you are becoming. I don’t mean that you should be mean, ignorant, judgmental, blaming or on the attack mode. I mean that you should try to always be truthful about the world we live in. Approach your truths with love but never sacrifice your TRUTH. There is a Sarah Bareilles  song that goes like this: “Say what you wanna say. Let the words fall out. Honestly. I want to see you be brave.” Sing that song to yourself often.

Start a journal where you write down all those secret thoughts in your head. Tell yourself you won’t share them with anyone. (You might not need to share them.) But the important thing is to allow yourself the freedom to access your uninhibited voice,  your incorruptible truths.  (Maybe you want to talk about God and you’re scared because people frown upon that nowadays.) Just getting your true thoughts down is a great start. After you are done, look down on them and say to yourself, “There you are. The one and only, irreplaceable, important me. I’m glad I found you.”

Whether you ever get the story out or not, know this: a great story lives within you. A truth that can move mountains. A truth that can save lives and change the world for better.

Let your story out honey! It’s a wise one. And it needs to be told. I bet you can feel it give a little tremor already. That’s how magical you are. That’s how dynamite. Now go get your pen and start writing!