I Am What I Am…
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” - Dr. Seuss
I love this quote, and the thing is, I love it — even applied to my writing.
I spent too long being conservative in my writing because I worried about what people would think. What would my parents think about the graphic sex? What would editors think about my choice of content? What would readers think about my unconventional characters?
Yes, you do have to be mindful of your writing in terms of quality and genre, but when you chain your imagination and natural voice because you’re worried about what other people think, you’re not being true to who you are.
Be who you are, write what you want, and don’t worry overly much what others will think. It’s very freeing to let yourself go, and your natural voice will shine. Your audience, the people who “get” you, are the ones who matter. If you change your writing to make your critics happy, YOU won’t be happy, and neither will the people who fell in love with the real you in the first place.
So write and be free.
The writing is so much easier when you let yourself go.
April 5th, 2008 at 12:11 am
Great post, Larissa, thank you
I know I sometimes get bogged down worrying what ‘other people’ will think (actually I’m having that problem right now! But a friend has suggested a way around it, thank God), and usually it’s because of the sexual content. In fact I had a huge fight with my mother about it a while back, then she said she understood and accepted it, and then she didn’t… So these days I just don’t mention my writing to her and she doesn’t mention it either!
April 5th, 2008 at 5:20 am
What a great post! I think I have done the same thing as you over the years - let my fear of what others will think control my writing process/content. And who could be more wise than Dr. Seuss?
April 5th, 2008 at 6:05 am
It wasn’t until I started doing this that I actually wrote something I thought was worth revising. Great post
April 5th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Thanks, ladies. I have to say, I spent WAY too much time worrying about what other people think when it comes to my writing, and it wasn’t until I stopped worrying that I sold. In addition, I still have moments of doubt when I get a bad review…I start thinking, well, if I did this…
Then I remember the quote. And I remember the people who love what the reviewer hated. And I realize that if I changed my writing to make the reviewer happy, I’d disappoint those who love the book the way it is.
So be yourself. It feels so much better than when you try to write inside a box!
April 5th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
I completely agree with this, with a corrollary of don’t write things you are absolutely not comfortable with, either, or that go against your beliefs. I’m a Christian and for a while I started writing quite erotic stuff, but it grated my conscious so badly I had to trash the manuscript. Some people would say that I’m just keeping myself chained up, but I don’t see it that way.
April 6th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
“The people who “get” you are the ones who matter.”
Love that. Thanks for sharing the quote.