Hello there,
Write as though you were dying.
These are words spoken by an author at the Kingston Writer’s Festival. (I can’t remember the author!)
At the time, the meaning these words held for me was that I needed to write with a sense of urgency because none of us knows when our time will come.
As I sit here at my computer, I feel that there is something more here.
It means writing with honesty, integrity, vulnerability.
Honesty
“Honesty is a facet of moral character that connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, straightforwardness, including straightforwardness of conduct…Honesty also involves being trustworthy, loyal, fair, and sincere.” Wikipedia
According to Merriam Webster, the word honesty finds its roots in “Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin honestus honorable, from honos, honor”
To write with honor.
We should write as to bring something of worth, or of honor, to our writing.
Integrity
My friend Merriam Webster says that integrity “implies trustworthiness and incorruptibility to a degree that one is incapable of being false to a trust, responsibility, or pledge.”
We must write in such a way that the reader feels safe with us. In a way that the reader implicitly knows that I am “incapable of being false.”
Vulnerability
This word may be the hardest to stomach. To be vulnerable is to be open to being physically or emotionally wounded. Depending on the truth you speak, you could put yourself at risk of being physically wounded.
I find it hard to write with vulnerability. My writing is deeply personal (or should be). I think my problem is that I try to avoid being vulnerable. I am scared of those parts of myself I try to hide.
If I am honest though, when I listen to people speak, I hear their heart speaking to me. People will always reveal their true selves, if we take the time to listen.
So, in the same way others reveal themselves to me, I am revealing myself to others.
I kind of hope these “others” are not as perceptive as us writers. ha ha ha
One time, I tried to assert my own mysteriousness to someone. The person looked at me and said, “You’re an open book.” I was shocked and very disappointed in myself. I really thought I did a good job of hiding, but alas…I am an open book.
So, I will make it my goal to write with honesty, integrity and vulnerability.
Please let me know your thoughts.
Until next time,
Ellie