Creative Freedom—Unleashing The Unfiltered You

In my opinion, one of the hardest things to do as a writer is to be authentically you. How do you go about putting yourself on the page? How do you show yourself to your audience?

For me, this has always been a confusing question because if you write fiction, like I do, then you aren't telling your story, you're telling your character's. It's hard to integrate your personality or humor or beliefs or yourself in general into a work of fiction that isn't your personal story.

How are we supposed to tell parts of our story while telling the character's?

I think it starts with realizing that parts of you are automatically going to come out in your writing. No one has the same ideas as you. No one has the same writing style. These things set you apart even before you begin because no one thinks about your story the way you do, and, therefore, no one can write it like you can.

Another thing I've thought about is this—not every piece of fiction is cut out to have some huge part of the author's story intertwined.

You may put parts of yourself into the story without the reader realizing it. You might not even realize it!

Purposefully putting yourself on the page just because everyone else is doing it or because it's a criteria you want your story to have is not the right reason.

As writers we want to be perfect, and we want our stories to be perfect so we do everything in our power to plan ahead and make that happen, but we cannot avoid failure and we cannot avoid rewrites.

The bottom line is—do not think you have to re-shape your story or re-shape your character's story to compliment each other.

One of the best things about writing is the freedom it offers. There are billions upon billions of plots and ideas out there. Total creativity is one of the greatest things about writing. You cannot be a writer without using your imagination.

For me, coming up with ideas that are different from other books isn't super hard. What I find challenging is deciding how much of myself I'm going to put on the page. You might be asking yourself, "You can choose how much of yourself you can put on the page? I thought it just happens."

While it does just happen sometimes. There are other times when we hold ourselves back. A lot of times we don't realize we're holding ourselves back, it's subconscious. It starts with small things like—“Oh maybe I shouldn't use that word." or "So and so might think this is offensive."

These little comments that we automatically make can quickly escalate, and we can become scared to share parts of ourselves because we fear what other people will think. The only thing scarier than someone criticizing your story is someone criticizing you as a person.

If you share your real, true, undeniable self, you are giving your audience the opportunity to attack you personally.

There's a huge risk introduced when you integrate yourself into a work of fiction because no longer is the audience only capable of judging your work, but they are capable of judging your mistakes, your past, your thoughts, your morals, and anything else you might share in the story about yourself.

I'm not telling you not to take this risk. I'm all for risks, and if this style of writing fits your story, then take it and run with it. I'm saying that writers need to stop trying to force this on their stories. Don't do it just because everyone else is. You're better than that.

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The best thing about writing is that you can create anything. Anything! Don't look at the trends. Write the book you want to write.

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Some stories are cut out to be closely intertwined with the author's background, and others aren't. This is one of those truths that I don't think a lot of writers get. You can write an amazing story where you share your experiences and beliefs and all of the things that make you you. But for some readers, they aren't looking for a real life story because that's not what they want to get out of reading. They're looking to escape. They want a story set on Mars or in a mystic world where gravity doesn't exist. They're looking for characters who are different than them. They want to get a new prospective on the world, and maybe that prospective is yours, and maybe it's not.

The bottom line is—your story is going to reflect some part of you whether you mean for it to or you don't. If you are writing a story where you aren't the main character, than you aren't telling your story; you're telling your character's story. Don't get stressed out about showing yourself on the page, but don’t hold yourself back because you‘re scared of what others might say.

If you're a fiction writer, your voice will come through in the words and narration, so don't worry about showing yourself on the page.

Not all stories are structured the same when it comes to sharing the author's voice. Regardless of the type of story you write, people will like it. So write the story you want to write because you will come through, and as you continue writing, your voice will grow and evolve and become more and more confident and clear.

What's the hardest part of the writing process for you? Let me know in the comments!

It's been a pleasure writing for you, and until next time—stay weird and stay writing. - Lexi