Loud and Proud

Writers are weird. No escaping from that.

But if we weren’t weird, we wouldn’t have any stories to tell.

There’s something magical is our imaginations. We are able to tap into wondrous resources of inspiration, history, personal stories, and so on to create our worlds on the page. There should be no shame in employing those resources and sharing the fruits of our imaginations. And some will try. At Famous Last Words, my interactive mystery book signing, one patron asked how could I live with myself with all this crazy stuff going on in my head. I just smiled. It’s how I live. It’s what I do. It’s how I do my job. Sure, I’m weird. That’s what makes me wonderful.

A lot of times, I feel I encounter some form of shame from aspiring writers who are afraid to share their work. They’re afraid to be judged. So I’m going to lay out some hard truths. You can’t stop anyone from judging you. That’s human nature. You can, however, change the way you respond and how it affects you. Because if you don’t share your work, nothing will happen to it. Even Emily Dickinson, one of the most famous reclusive writers in history, shared her work while she was alive. If you want to move forward, you have to be willing to share and face the crowd. Yes, you’re a weird writer. It’s time to be loud and proud about it!

It’s your chance to shine.