HAMMER DOWN AND GO FOR IT

By Vicki H. Moss, Contributing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

Cecil Murphey once said that writers had to be a tad egotistical to write. All that rejection couldn’t be about our writing…. But there’s that word again—rejection.  Who in their right mind wants to keep getting rejected? Writing rejection feels lousy and can ruin the best of days. Then why do we do it?

The odds of getting published can be frightening. Let’s just heap all of that rejection on our heads why don’t we. Let’s schedule in a daily weep fest—just what we need when we go to the mailbox everyday to get another rejection letter. While we’re heaping on rejection, let’s go ahead and pile on some resentment and jealousy while we’re at it.

I’ve heard more than a couple of writers say they don’t understand why so-and-so’s books sell better, etc. (Anne Lamottwrote about her rejections and how they hurt.) The first time I heard that from a writer, I was surprised. The first time I read those words in a writer’s book on writing, I was even more shocked. Isn’t there enough fame and fortune to go around for all writers? The answer is—sorry—but no, according to Cec Murphy and others.

With many owning computers these days or at least having access to them, practically the entire world is writing a book. Especially in the Scandinavian countries. One writer who had recently moved to the States from that area of the world told me that with short winter days, people had nothing to do so they were all writing books to while away the time until spring’s thaw.

Who’s going to read all of those books even if they do make it out of the drawer to be published?  

Let’s face reality. There are only so many hours during a day to read books. I still haven’t read all of the classics, much less the millions of contemporary books out there waiting to be read by somebody. Anybody. One warm body.

So why do we keep writing when the odds are stacked against us? Once more, I’d like to share some of Madeleine L’Engle’s thoughts, this time on what she had to say about why she wrote—especially when her husband was her most ruthless critic and a friend once told her, “It’s been said better before.”

“Of course,” Madeleine replied. “It’s all been said better before. If I thought I had to say it better than anybody else, I’d never start. Better or worse is immaterial. The thing is that it has to be said; by me; ontologically. We each have to say it, to say it our own way. Not of our own will, but as it comes out through us. Good or bad, great or little: that isn’t what human creation is about. It is that we have to try; to put it down in pigment, or words, or musical notations, or we die.”

Madeleine’s reply made me think: Writing a story is like decorating a room. If ten different decorators style a room, every room will probably turn out gorgeous, but different. (Unless they put shag carpet on the wall. Sorry, Elvis.) The same goes for a novel. Give the same idea—boy meets girl on the beach, they fall in love—to ten writers and they’re all going to come up with different characters, different plots, different beaches. Not all beaches have to be in sunny climes. We could be talking about two Native Alaskans meeting for the first time on a beach not far from ancient fishing territory.       

As writers, particularly writers who feel the need to write with a no holds barred attitude—our fingers must type words or else—we must stack our words next to each other until our own personal story is fleshed out. It will be different from a neighbor’s story. More nuanced, perhaps. Intimate in different ways, perhaps. Yes, you might have been in the same neighborhood when a tornado hit but what one person experiences is usually totally different from what another experiences.

You might be out on the same fishing boat but only the person in the captain’s chair reeled in the sailfish. Everyone on the boat will tell the story from a different viewpoint or angle. Some stories will be more compelling than others. The sailfish might get longer and longer and weigh more and more by the end of the telling for some. I guarantee no two stories will be exactly identical.

Therefore, don’t be discouraged about the odds stacked against writers. Keep writing stories. You won’t know unless you try. Some might say it better, but their voice isn’t your voice. You might find your niche. You might write a bestseller. No matter the success or lack thereof, your grandchildren might one day get a huge kick out of what gramps or granny had to say in their own voice. You won’t know the results unless you hammer out your masterpiece. Hammer down and go for it!        

   

    

Your Unique Voice

By Cecil Murphey

"Use strong verbs!" 

"Don't use is."

"Never use the passive voice."

Most of us have had those commands thrown at us countless times (and there was a time when they thundered from my mouth). For the past decade, however, I've disavowed them.

I prefer not to use the passive voice, but there are legitimate times to use it.  Too many writers don't know the difference between the passive voice (I was hit by the ball) and a state-of-being verb (The sun is shining). Some writers feel they have committed a literary sin if they use any form of the verb be.

All words are good words; they're the tools we use to express ourselves.

The major reason I want to bury those three sentences is that they tend to block writers' true voices. 

For instance, I'm working with a talented writer, and she's trying to learn to write with her true voice. Recently, she wrote about a man being shot and his wife situated her head on his chest. She felt that situated was a stronger verb than lay or placed. It probably is stronger, but it doesn't fit.

Later I spotted his body folded together. Originally, she had written, he bent forward, but one of her friends said she needed a stronger verb than bent.

"Do you talk that way?" I asked. When she said no, I said, "Then you're not writing from who you are. Each of us has a unique voice."

Our voices are how we see our world. They make us different from others.  It's the sound of ourselves on paper or the screen. To be true to ourselves, we need to write the way we talk—that is, to be as natural as possible. Writing with our own voices—authentically—doesn’t mean writing subjectively (although there are times we may do so.)

Each of us has that personal one-of-a-kind tone. We have valuable things to say, and no one expresses them the way we do. They become significant when they come from our authentic selves.

Readers identify with honesty. They may not realize what bothers them about certain writers, but they sense that the writing doesn't have what one person calls "the ring of truth." Too many want-to-be-published authors try to sound brilliant, erudite, or like a real writer.

Discovering and then nurturing our matchless voice is an ongoing process, and to accomplish that, we have to be relentlessly honest.

We can learn techniques, but if we don't write from within, our prose sounds forced and inauthentic, and we stifle the heart of good writing. Not only do we need to discover our voices, but also we have to accept them as valid. They express our distinctive life view. Appreciating our voices comes from facing our fears, accepting ourselves, and valuing who we are.

Finding and honoring our voices is about self-acceptance. When we respect our uniqueness, we become more fully who we are.

We also become better writers.

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Veteran author Cecil Murphey has written or co-written more than 135 books, including the NY Times bestseller 90 Minutes in Heaven (with Don Piper) and Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (with Dr. Ben Carson). His books have sold in the millions and have encouraged and inspired countless people around the world. In addition to writing, he enjoys preaching and speaking for events nationwide. Website: www.cecilmurphey.com Blog for writers: www.cecwritertowriter.com

Blog for male survivors of sexual abuse: www.menshatteringthesilence.blogspot.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/cecmurphey

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cecilmurpheyauthor

Cec Murphey's Tips for Writers: https://www.pinterest.com/twilabelk/cec-murpheys-tips-for-writers/

Murphey's Maxims: https://www.pinterest.com/twilabelk/murpheys-maxims/