Stringing Bits of Your Soul Onto the Page #BYBin30

Image by Dagmar Räder from Pixabay

I wrote a blog post for a friend's blog today. In my guest post, I recycled a phrase I have used in the past. That phrase was describing writing as "stringing out tiny bits of your soul onto the page for people to read." 

Reading that phrase again got me thinking about how difficult writing is, at least most of the time. And how difficult it is to share what we have written with the rest of the world. 

Whether or not someone likes what we have written is subjective and every reader has their own likes and dislikes and personal tastes in the type of writing they prefer. But when someone doesn't like what we've written, because, no matter what story we've written, we put so much of ourselves into the writing of it, it can feel very much like a personal attack.

The converse is also true though. Because we are sharing a part of ourselves when we share our writing with the world, when someone likes what we have written, it can feel like a beautiful light has been shown on us, making our hearts feel warm and loved.

Writing, no matter what the subject is, is personal for a writer. Our stories are special to us. Stringing out tiny bits of our soul onto the page can sometimes hurt and is usually difficult. And letting people read those words, those bits of our soul, is scary for us.

All writers are also readers. So this message is for the readers out there. Please, when you read our words, be gentle with us. Remember how difficult putting our words out into the world is for us, and, if you like our writing, please tell us.