Don't Shoot the Messenger!

Why do people like to shoot the messengers?

Writing is a message. Whether it's in a bottle or an email, or sent with love or a stamp, it's a message. Writers write those messages.

Disagreement is all right. Dissension is all right. But, to flame a writer for their stand? Going a little overboard!

As a writer, I know that I will write a piece that at least one person won't agree with. I can handle that. I can handle it if several hundred people disagree with it. But, to figuratively shoot the messenger on a personal level is not getting to the heart of why you found the message so wrong.

As an example: I wrote a general piece about religion. It was an essay, and its point was to encourage everyone to take a stand for what they believed. That, unless they actually stood for their beliefs, those around them would assume that they believed the same way. If it meant taking time off from work - and in most cases it isn't a hardship for the employer, so you can request it - then I suggested that they make sure they take the time off.

The outcry was horrendous! I heard from employers who didn't want their people to know that they could ask for - and normally receive - time off for religious reasons. Others, more fundamental than I, wanted to know what I specifically believed that I could say such a thing. Still others ignored the facts I had in there and cursed at me, either figuratively by using all caps or by literal words.

Shoot the messenger! Shoot the messenger!

Is it that people don't really want to know what the messenger is bringing? Do they think that by getting rid of (or shaming or shouting down) the messenger that the message will go away? After all these years, I find it mind-boggling that so many people desire to be ignorant.

Wouldn't you rather be "in the know", even if it's painful? I know I would!

But, even if you don't, please don't shoot the messenger. Be specific why you don't like the message, but don't shoot the messenger!

Who Am I Writing For?

Yesterday, at the library, I picked up a book about writing. I do that all the time. It helps to keep my hand in on what's what and how-to. I practice writing like Tiger practices his gold swing or Pink practices her scales. So, yesterday I read about writing. I made notes while I was at it.

I even checked out three books on the subject.

From the questions in one of the volumes, I realized that my focus on writing was skewed. I've been sweating out what I was going to write. Of the many ideas that constantly swirl in my head, which one am I going to write about? How do I choose just one to concentrate on (at least long enough to write about it)? Will I be able to write it so well that my audience will understand? Which editor am I going to query about which idea? Will I even be able to query the editor?

Foolish thoughts.

I write. I write well. I write so that my reader will not misunderstand. I write concisely, succinctly; I write the truth (perspective) as I see it. I write so my readers will see what I'm saying.

What's the foolishness in that?

The foolishness is worrying about the "what." That will take care of itself if I remember the WHO. Who is going to read this article? Who is my reader? Is she (or he) my age or older or younger? Does she still have children at home or is she an empty nester or a never-chose-to? Is she well-traveled or does she dream someday of traveling? Who is my reader?

I've written nine essay-type articles in the last twelve issues of a bi-monthly newsletter. In the last two issues, I've gained even more space by writing a column as well as the essay. That's two years of writing.

Some of my readers have faces and names I know; Norma and Jane-ellen and Dan and Kerry. However, most of my readers are faceless to me. Yet, I know these readers. I know their thoughts; I know what they want to read about. I don't need to go to absurd lengths to get my point across. I don't need to explain the terms I use. I write in their jargon, to their hearts as well as their minds.

The who will determine the what in greater measure than my writing the article first, and then figuring out where to place it. Yes, since I can write well, I know how to bring any piece of prose to the table. However, if I don't pay attention to my readers, those articles - the very ideas - won't fit their (or the editors') interests.

So now, instead of sweating out the what, which I will write well (between experience and research), I can now concentrate on the who. And the WHO is much more interesting!

Writing for Heart, Head and Hand

I'm free. Heart and head and hand, I'm free. Yes, I'm still paid for copywriting and for articles. That's the norm, being paid for writing. It's just that, since I don't work for someone else - I'm not on a payroll - I'm free to do what I want to do. I don't have the emotional buy-in to the place I used to work for. I know the point of having my own office. I have my own computer and my own words to persuade you to pay attention and to do something about what you read.

I am a writer. Copywriting and articles beckon me. They summon me with their words of unending possibilities.

Admittedly, there are easier ways to earn a living. Friends and family (gotta love 'em!) love to point out how competitive writing is. Yet, how much more is it than straight sales? Whether it's cars or shoes, the same dollars are vied for regardless which car lots or boutiques I go to.
So it is with writing, whether it's copywriting or articles or romance novels.

The biggest "competition" however, in my mind, isn't the sheer volume of words put out. It's the status quo. It's the inactivity that comes with "just can't be bothered to change" that's the hardest to overcome. This challenge can hit the savviest writer as well as the beginner.

Which is a big reason I finally broke with working for someone else. I wanted to pursue the worlds of words, of copywriting and articles. And yes, during the next four months, I'll write a romance novel too (already have the plot and the prologue).

It's a challenge I cheerfully (most days anyway) take up. I believe words make a difference. For centuries words have been - and still are - the catalysts between inaction and action. In English, 26 letters, put together in the best order, can prompt you to rise above the harshest life, or make that you buckle under the flimsiest veneer.

Action makes a difference too; I won't deny that. But, what started the action? Words. Thoughts before the action - ideas made up of words - created the decision to act. It is words that make you ignore the status quo.

Words. The first word of an infant is what Daddy listens for. The first word a child learns to spell is its own name. The words of a well-written letter compel action to save a child, an ocean, or the world. The words in an article push for action, if only to write a flurry of more words in a letter to the editor. The last "I love you" of a dying Mother lingers forever. Our lives, yours and mine, are expanded by every word we read or think about.

I write. I write well. I write succinctly. I write to touch the emotions, the feelings and the heart. I write to touch the mind, the logic and the head. I write to stir action, achievement and the hand. I write now to encourage you to write to that sibling you've lost track of, to insist on change in a law, to spur you to be the change you want to see.

This is why I make a living at writing. Because words are alive.

D. Kendra