One of the greatest difficulties that every writer encounters at the beginning of his journey, and not just at the beginning, is what I would call false modesty or a deadly fear of getting naked in front of his readers. In fact, that is one of the most common sources of blocking.
Of course, we must not confuse the lack of modesty or a healthy impudence with an exhibitionist desire when it comes to systematically exposing all our shame on paper because that would be nothing more than another form of self-immolation, another hair shirt that we would use to avoid, again, creative freedom and responsibility.
Both extreme attitudes (that of disguising ourselves in virtuous and pretentious clothing and that of tearing our clothes to tear out our hearts in front of the reader) lack authenticity. The first comes from excessive self-protection that keeps us in a territory where we feel safe, surrounded by clichés and common places, by borrowed experiences and languages, by abstract concepts or erudite disquisitions that do not touch, at any time, the open wound of the life.
The second comes from excessive aggressiveness and takes us to the realm of panic, of loss of control. Surrounding ourselves with vomit, bile and blood, visceral resentments, and uncontrollable passions, we are incapable of giving a consistent channel to what we write, so the most normal thing is that we end up returning, terrified, to our egotistical and safe cocoon, from which we cannot We will want to go out for fear of losing control.
Between both extremes, there is, however, a healthy middle ground, a fairly wide range in which we must learn to move. Searching for this strip with a curious and intrepid attitude—like a child climbs a slide for the first time, a driver’s apprentice takes a new highway, or an explorer enters the Amazon jungle, depending on our stage of learning—also enters the, of our responsibilities as honest writers.
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Seeking a healthy middle ground with a curious and fearless attitude is our responsibility as honest writers. CLICK TO TWEET.
A good clue that will inform us that we are on the right track is to feel a certain degree of non-aggressive nudity while we write (like someone doing a striptease by candlelight for the first time in front of the person they love).
Regardless of whether we are children book editors a fantasy story full of dragons, or an autobiographical novel about our childhood, we have to keep in mind that writing is always—or it had better be, because otherwise it will be a still life—linked to the present. Just as dreams are nothing more than symbolic representations of the emotional landscape of our psyche at that moment, in literature, we creatively craft themes based on our current concerns.
Just as dreams are nothing more than symbolic representations of the emotional landscape of our psyche, in literature, we creatively develop themes based on our current concerns.
Thus, it is normal that although we are talking about dragons and trolls, if we do it authentically, fully identified with our characters, we feel that we are touching unexplored and pre-pubescent territories of our person. Like when we caress the skin of a loved one and discover a strange roughness, an unknown mole, a soft indentation that remained in shadow, the unusual projection of light on the sleeping buttock.
Touching that border can be scary at first due to the intensity of the experience. But if instead of running in the opposite direction or shooting forward, we relax in that friction, in that sensation of nakedness, we will realize that at that exact point (which varies as we explore) lies authentic literature. And our own personality as writers
So, a good disposition and strategy when starting to write is to move forward confidently and determinedly in search of that frontier. Overcome the initial fear and open ourselves to the experience. We must work on the discourse and our best Ghostwriting Agency from within that feeling of ritual undressing, opening ourselves to the tremor that the unknown produces in us.
And there, right there, we will find enjoyment, the famous pleasure that experienced writers talk about and of which at first we do not have much notion because we confuse it with fear. And it is normal because they are both in the same place. As good explorers, we must cultivate the certainty that behind fear, there will always be something interesting to investigate.
One of the things that worries the writer most is that the reader discovers what kind of person he or she truly is. CLICK TO TWEET
One of the things that most worry the beginning writer who explores these territories is that the reader discovers, behind his words and no matter how much fiction he resorts to, what kind of person he truly is. And the fact is that the being of multiple facets (not all of them pleasant) that is revealed with writing does not usually coincide, at all, with the image we have of ourselves. This removes from under our feet the dense carpet full of arabesques that we had taken so long to weave and stamps us against the floor.
However, you will agree with me that it is quite egocentric and unreasonable to think that the reader will be trying to deduce what is true and what is not from what we tell him, to what extent we are good or bad people or to what degree of self-deception we have lived up to. Now. Rather, the opposite happens: if we really do things this way, working without aggression on the borders of our fears and modesty, we will encourage the reader to identify with our characters and, in turn, reveal their own fears.
What the reader wants is a transmission channel, and if we provide it in an authentic way, he will forget about us while reading; he will empathize with the characters and the story that we have given him.
It may sound a little harsh on our ego, but the reader doesn’t give a damn about us as people and even as writers. What he wants is a transmission channel to work with himself. And if we provide it to you in the most authentic way possible, you will forget about us while you read, you will empathize with our characters, and in the end, you will only feel grateful for the opportunity we have given you to feel guided and accompanied in your deepest concerns.
