"So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for the ages or only for hours, nobody can say." Virginia Woolf.
**This piece of mine was originally featured in 5x5 Keeping the Dream Aloft: Five Writers Five Stories Each**
I believe every writer is motivated by something uniquely their own. For me, writing is a way to overcome fear, loneliness and to connect with others. In my case, the fear of being judged, of being hurt, of being abandoned, must be met with absolute vulnerability. When others connect with that vulnerability, I know that the voice inside my head that tells me I’m alone, is a lie.
My motivation has been to find a language for pain that doesn’t leave the reader feeling hopeless. That doesn’t leave me feeling hopeless. How can I express rejection, emotional wounds, and spiritual violation in an authentic, genuine manner, without being unnecessarily brutal to my readers? How do I find that middle place?
In the end, I do not write about what I feel, I feel what I’m writing. A reader can sense the writer’s voice if the writer is trying too hard, if they are only mimicking an emotion. The most powerful works in my opinion, are those that evoke empathy, that follow the natural curves of loss and redemption.
I don’t for a moment believe myself to be a great storyteller. Sometimes plot evades me. Some people will read my writing and ask, What’s the point? That is what I most often expect. But what surprises me is when someone connects with the language and recognizes something deeply personal to them within my writing. It will always surprise me.