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Before I get started, I would like to announce that the Kickstarter for Marta's Pod will be going 'live' sometime during the first week of April. I'm just waiting for the Kickstarter staff review, in which they make sure it conforms to project guidelines, and I can set it as active. Marta's Pod is the second book in the Pod series, and my delay in getting it to print has been the cost of professional editing. Once the Kickstarter goes live, you'll be able to find it by visiting www.kickstarter.com, and searching for "Marta's Pod" under the projects. Okay. That's my shameless plug for the month.
I've noticed something funny that happens when people find out someone is a writer. It's a two-fold thing, and I suspect it happens fairly often to other writers as well. The first thing is that lots of people have story ideas, and they want to share them with the writer. Some writers might hate that, but I actually enjoy it. I agree with Albert Einstein's famous quote that, "Imagination is more important than knowledge," and when people have a story idea, it shows that they are using their imagination.
I know from experience that it's a wonderful thing to have a story concept gestating in the imagination. The ideas and the possibilities provide many hours of fulfilling daydreams, and it's during this process that the story should begin to take on a life of its own. When we're doing it right, it grows and heads off in unexpected directions, taking us along for a fascinating ride. Even if the basic idea is one that others have done before, we're giving the story our own personal spin.
The second thing that happens, though, is where the problem lies. Many people are convinced that they cannot write a story, and therefore, want the writer to do so for them. They sometimes even get a bit offended if we don't immediately agree to their request.
My standard answer when someone proposes a story idea to me, and asks me to write it, is to encourage them to write the story instead. This is not a "brush-off" or a polite way of saying that I think their story idea stinks. On the contrary, this is my way of saying the story idea is a good one, and has potential. Yes, I could take that idea and write the story, but then, it will lose something vital. It loses the unique voice of the person whose idea it was in the first place.
The magic of a story isn't just in the characters and the plot. It's also in the voice of the writer. It's in the individual way each writer tells the story, and that intangible bit of his or her self that gets infused into each and every page. When we read a great story, we can sense the tremendous love and care that the writer had for the story as they drafted it. We often call that aspect of any art, "passion." It's not just a writer saying, "I think I'll write a story." It's the passion that makes the writer feel they MUST write that story, that they cannot let it go until that story is fulfilled.
Many writers have made some money by ghost-writing a story, but more often than not, ghost-writers are hired for non-fiction. Ghost-writing doesn't work as well for fiction, because the surrogate writer isn't as likely to feel that kind of passion for the story. I would be writing it because someone else is paying me to do so, instead of writing it because my characters compel me. It's not an expression of my art, but rather just a job.
The logic that an experienced writer is better at it does not really apply, either. If it was just about who was better at a particular art discipline, then my flute teacher's annual recital would not be about each student playing a piece. Instead, we would pick out a piece of music that we liked, and because our teacher was better at playing it, she would play the recital in our place. After all, her skill and talent earned her the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall, so surely everyone would rather hear her play, than me.
Yet, music shares that same trait with writing. It's not just about the composition. It's not just the notes and the rhythm. There is that unique voice that each musician brings to a piece - that little bit of myself that somehow comes through, even though I'm trying to play the composition as written.
You see, when I encourage someone to write their story, I'm not just saying that I think it's a good story idea. I'm also saying that the story idea is going to be better in the voice that created it. I want to read your story in your voice, because - believe it or not - that's the best voice for your story.
Embrace the passion. Love your story. Give it life, and you'll learn as I have that, when you do, it gives life back to you.
Love YOUR story.
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