The biggest question of all: Does your story matter?
There are certain writing truisms that I repeat and repeat and repeat because I believe in them so deeply.
I want to pause today to explore and excavate the one thing I think is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING you need to write your story—and share your story, and publish it, and promote it, and … experience a lifetime of joy and satisfaction in it.
No, it’s not a suspenseful plot or compelling characters or snappy dialogue. It’s three simple words: “My story matters.”
Think about it …
If you don’t believe your story matters, you won’t write the first words of it—in fact, you won’t even truly recognize you have a story to tell.
If you don’t believe your story matters, you won’t write boldly—you won’t take risks and push boundaries because you’ll be held back by your timidity.
If you don’t believe your story matters, you won’t be open and vulnerable on the page—you’ll see the judgy eyes of others reading what you write.
If you don’t believe in your story, you won’t trudge and plod and climb and claw (and maybe slip and slide) your through the muddy middle—all of the many muddles!—of your story.
Nothing destroys creativity so mercilessly as doubt.
Nothing powers your creativity so much as belief.
If you don’t believe in your story, you won’t push through the endurance test of revision (which will then include more rounds of revision).
If you don’t believe in your story, you won’t venture out to find a writing community.
If you don’t believe in your story, you’ll wilt when you receive your first feedback.
If you don’t believe in your story, you won’t dare to try to find an agent.
If you don’t believe in your story, you won’t team with your editor in the most constructive way (and you might even fail to speak up for your vision of your story).
If you don’t believe in your story, you won’t read it with the full force it deserves in public.
If you don’t believe in your story, you won’t post about it on social—or do any promotion. You might even prefer that others don’t know about it.
And then, at the end of this writing/publishing marathon … if you don’t believe in your story, you won’t savor that wonderful warm feeling of accomplishment: You wrote this story that matters, your story.
Nothing destroys creativity so mercilessly as doubt. Nothing powers your creativity so much as belief.
Keep believing …. keep writing!
This week’s prompt
Write down one reason you believe in your story and one reason you believe in yourself.
Bonus points: Write it on your hand.
More bonus points: Tattoo it on your body.
Big time bonus points! Share your story of self-doubt and'/or belief in your story in the comments below—our belief, our resolve, is formed together.
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Because two quotes
“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”
—Sylvia Plath
“To be nobody-but-yourself—in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else—means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”
—E.E. Cummings
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Upcoming events
July 12: I’m teaching The Art of Brevity at the Mill Valley Library from 12:30 - 1:30 Pacific. Find out more.
July 19: Holy bajoley! I’m doing a live storytelling event: Six Words Live Story Show - Where Do We Go From Here? Hosted by Larry Smith, creator of the Six-Word Memoir Project. Six storytellers will kick off their story with a Six-Word Memoir, then dive into the fuller tale behind it—each in six (ish) minutes. Find out more.
July 24-27: I’ll be teaching at the new Understory Conference in Park City, Utah, with a bunch of other great teachers, including Dani Shapiro and my Memoir Nation partner Brooke Warner. Find out more.
August 30: The Art of Brevity with Catamaran from 10:30 - 1:30 Pacific. Online—so you can attend from anywhere! Find out more.
September 28-October 1: One of the highlights of my year is teaching at the one-of-a-kind Okoboji Writers' & Songwriters' Retreat V News at Lake Okoboji in Iowa. This will be my third year, and the roster of faculty includes great writers, songwriters, and journalists. Early bird registration is still open! Find out more.
Contact me about my one-on-one work with writers
Because two photos
One of my joys is to get my hair cut by the fabulous Bobby Jean and then admire the new things she has in her garden. The two mannequin lovers below are favorites.
I should have mentioned in this piece that one reason I broached this question today is that I've been struggling to decide if the memoir I've been writing (okay, dabbling might be the better word) matters. By not believing in my story as strongly as I could, by not fully committing myself to it, I'm holding myself back in all of the ways I list in this article.
I think that every writer faces this question in some way every day, even on the good days. It's a pernicious beast.
Love those mannequins! One reason I believe in my story: it won’t go away…it permeates everything I write: poetry, essay, short story, flash fiction, prompt responses and writing riffs. And one reason I believe in myself… this is harder…because my story won’t give up on me? And the more I wrestle with it…no, that’s not right. The more I let it breathe, sit with it, listen to it (without trying to shut it down or twist it into an idea instead of a feeling) the more I understand what it’s trying to speak.