Painting With Light

Even when I was little, I dreamed of being an author. In 1965, the year I turned seventeen, I submitted my first short story, and I imagined myself being the next Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451).

By the time I entered my twenties, I wanted to make people think of me as some sort of “great” writer, like the one making headlines at the time, Michael Crichton (Andromeda Strain).

While this fantasy faded with age (or maybe it was just reality closing in), for a long time I still held onto a specific image of myself, imagining my work would someday be studied in college classes, while young people wondered how anyone could write something so good.

Talk about an ego.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not bad to want those who read your work to enjoy it. Nor is it bad to hope that someday your work is good enough to be associated with the greats you’ve always admired.

But that only comes through dedicated effort, and if you obsess about people’s admiration, winning awards, and your persona as a writer, that thing called a writer’s ego will take over your life.

It happens when you become more focused on yourself than on the stories you tell. It’s not a bad thing, just a regrettably human instinct.

You become afraid to step out of your comfort zone.

However, if you want your stories to be read forever, you need to challenge your writing in new ways.

If you started writing thinking it was for the money, perhaps you’ve already discovered the fact you picked the wrong career. Wanting to live off your writing isn’t a bad thing, but only a relative few ever succeed that way (just ask my wife).

Besides, as writers, we produce better work when our goals are rooted in self-fulfillment and not money or awards.

I’ve won several awards and received a lot of positive reviews for my work. I won’t lie to you. It’s hard not to get caught up in such things.

But ask yourself this – if your story was one day incredibly well-loved and highly regarded, would you care whether or not your name was on the project?

Even now, I’m not sure I could pass that test.

Many stories are remembered before their authors because readers become lost in them, and that makes those stories special. If someone likes you as a writer, they like the stories you’re turning out.

Think about that a moment. They like the stories.

It has little to do with you as a person. It’s part of the odd relationship between an author and their reader.

Good stories reflect real emotions and paint realistic narratives about life’s events.

So, the better you get at banishing your writer’s ego, the better you’ll be able to serve those readers and create stories that thrill them.

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I will be attending the Rochester Writers’ Conference at Oakland University on Saturday, October 19.

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I will also be joining other local authors signing books from 11:00am-5:00pm at the Leon & Lulu Books and Authors Event in Clawson on October 20, 2019.

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Gentle Readers, my books have all garnered some terrific reviews. You can see all of them by using the Amazon link below. Check them out. Better yet, buy one and read it. You just might like it.

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You’re invited to visit my author’s website, BROKEN GLASS to hear the remarkable radio interview about my novel “Blood Lake” on The Authors Show, or see my three local television interviews. You can also like my Book of Face page, find me on Goodreads, or follow my shorter ramblings on The Twitter.

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Comments posted below will be read, greatly appreciated and perhaps even answered.

Tags: award-winning author, award-winning writing, indie writers

This entry was posted on October 11, 2019 at 10:31 am and is filed under Award-Winning Fiction, Independent Publishing, Storytelling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.