How A Writer's Vulnerability Can Change the World

"It was a long day. Stressful. My boss, yeah, she criticized me. I went home after five to an empty apartment and threw something in the microwave. While waiting for my food, I picked up this book..."

"I read the first page because the story looked good."

"After finishing the story, I realized I no longer felt the same about...."


Vulnerable in our writing:

Writing story is so much more than enabling the reader to feel the same emotions you once felt or taking the reader to the place you once went.

Writing story creates a metamorphosis. In a well written story, the writer allows their past and present to morph into power-infused words spilled on the page. These words, saturated with emotionally heart wrenching, exhilarating, humorous, and transformed experiences have proven to change lives. 

Well written stories: 
Empower. 
Rouse resolves. 
Humble. 
Create and enhance fears. 
Soothe
Teach

This can ONLY happen when a writer is vulnerable with readers. 

How?

1. Transparency 

Yes, transparency is risky. The doors of our heart have restricted access, no admittance without prior approval. Writing the truth can set us up for criticism. But in story, we can give these genuine feelings to other characters. The what ifs can happen. The MC can go there, knowing the risks and commitments involved.

Transparency allows for expression of bizarre ideas. The ideas, oddly enough, have turned into actual inventions. For example:  
   *Rockets to the moon (Jules Verne, Journey to the Moon and Back). 
   *Cell phones (Star Trek). 
   *Computer virus (Shockwave Rider, by John Brunner, 1970's author) not the best invention, eh?
   *Atomic power (The World Set Free, by H.G. Wells)  
   *The TASER  (invented by Jack Cover, a huge fan of the Tom Swift novels.  It actually stands for Thomas A. Swift Electric 
     Rifle.) 

2. Be assertive about which story you write

Writing a story takes passion. The story in your heart is the seed that will blossom into the story that can change many people. Change, BTW, can mean something as simple as soothe, preparing the reader to face another day at work, etc. Trust yourself to be the writer God has called you to be.

3. You need strength to suffer

Days of misery come. Sometimes it doesn't seem like the situation will end. Stories can can give the strength to suffer through another day. Sometimes knowing someone else (real or fictional) is going through a similar experience, or has overcome a similar trial helps empower us to try or endure another day. Characters MUST suffer real hardships. Their feelings MUST be, not just seem to be, real. Their dilemma, consequences, victories MUST ring true.

4. Be real--then readers will listen

Carol Kent, author and speaker, said, "If you are vulnerable with readers, you will give them the courage to do what they couldn't do." Inundate story with showing. Jesus showed truths in so many ways. First, he lived out loud. Second, he used stories the people would understand to convey the truth. These are written that we may believe, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. John 20:31 Choose intentional actions in your story. Actions that are powerful even in simplicity.

A fictional male character went to his apartment alone. He didn't bother to turn on the light. She was not there. Her dresses would never be worn again, not even his favorite. Her perfume would remain in the bottle forever. She'd never laugh or touch his skin again. His head lowered, supported by his hands, his elbows wedged on his knees. Fire pounded in his head like lightening piercing, stabbing, ripping everything he was. Her tears would never moisten his shoulder. They'd murdered his wife, the only one he ever loved.

The above is my retelling, a condensed version of a masterpiece written by a male author who clearly poured his heart on a page through the eyes of his male fictional character. I don't know what inspired the author, but after reading the three-page heart wrenching response to hearing his wife had been murdered, I understood his experience and can now better know how a man feels. The character was an agent, who spent the rest of the story solving the crime. The author's choice to include the character's response before solving the crime truly made the story real. 

Our hardships are not hidden. God sees them. He provides so many ways for us to show His love and compassion to each other...one is vulnerability in story which can sometimes display a combustion of emotions.

Consider how you can be vulnerable to your readers. What has happened in your life that has given you a first-hand understanding and a unique ability to convey that moment through story?

**Top Photo by Mary Vee, taken at Mt. Hermon, California

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Rock climbing, white-water rafting, zip lining, and hiking top Mary's list of great ways to enjoy a day. Such adventures can be found in her stories as well.

Mary writes young adult mystery/suspense, is honing marketing and writing skills, and loves to pen missionary and tell Bible event stories on her ministry blog, God Loves Kids. She has finaled in several writing contests.

Visit Mary at her website, blog, and her ministry blog to families: God Loves Kids. Or chat on Facebook or Twitter

All subscribers to Mary's newsletter will receive her new short story an intriguing suspense/mystery. Come, read a good story. To get your free gift, sign up for the newsletter at Mary's website or:  Join the adventure!

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Bravery and the Writing Life with a GIVEAWAY!!

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again,

because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause;

who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly." -Teddy Roosevelt speech, 1910, "Citizenship in a Republic

Who has not known the bitter taste of failure sliding down the throat? Those who have been invested in the writing life for any significant amount of time are acquainted with the sting.

Rejection letters.

Contest losses, perhaps year after countless year.

In On Writing, perennial #1 NY Times bestseller Stephen King discusses his nail of shame. As he began submitting his work to magazines at age 16, rejection after rejection letter was pounded into the wall.

But through the process, King learned to "dare greatly" a phrase made newly popular by TED Talk speaker and social worker Brene Brown in her aptly titled recent tome, Daring Greatly.

King not only dared greatly in facing rejection but also in his work. King's breakthrough bestseller (though it was his third published novel) was The Shining, a book in which Stephen was shocked to recognize himself on the page. Jack Torrance is a brash troubled working class man who succumbs to alcoholism and depths of darkness as he spends the winter trapped with his family in an isolated hotel during an avalanche. King recognized his own struggles in Torrance's working class background, battle to overcome it, and brashness. Like Jack, King was also an alcoholic and writing The Shining opened his eyes to some of the perils the addiction had wrought in his own life.

Perhaps if King had not been bold enough to put his heart on the page it may have "held" back his writing career. I do find it fascinating though that his breakthrough novel was written in a place of vulnerability in his own life.

As writers we are designed to share ourselves on the page. Truth-telling and ministry cannot be separated from each other for God is the God of Truth. Even more so than writers in the world, we must be authentic and dare to bleed on the page.

Ephesians 4:25 says: Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

In the early years of Christian fiction, readers decried the "perfection" of characters after their salvation. Years later, there is much growth in the area of realism.

We are being sanctified, called to be holy as He is holy. (1 Peter 1:2, 1 Corinthians 1:11). Set apart. Different from the world.

Yet at the same time although we are to walk in freedom we all are in process. Your reader may deal with pornography or cigarette addiction. Perhaps, you don't. But we can all relate to that struggle on some level. Maybe like me you can't buy Oreos because you struggle with the temptation to turn to them after a rough day instead of spending the time in prayer. Remembering you are a person in process and so is your reader can help you to be more authentic on the page.

Being real about our struggles, temptations and spiritual growth and transformation are all part of ministering to others. Think about those who spur you on in your Christian life. If you are like me, they are people who are humble enough to admit their failures and setbacks, yet are engaged in the fight of the Christian life continuing to pursue holiness.

God has placed several older women in my lives at various points in Titus 2 mentoring type roles. Those who blessed me the most were those who didn't only want to teach me using their words but were willing to be vulnerable enough to share mistakes. They weren't perfect, so I felt free to share my questions and doubts.

God places others in our path, other writers, readers of our blogs, those who engage in our storyworlds and desires our lives and work to bless them.

What does daring greatly mean when it comes to our books?

It means putting our wholehearted self on the page. It doesn't mean you and your characters have the same struggles, but recognizing that all our temptations are common to man (1 Corinthians 10:13).

...not letting rejection hold us back from entering that contest for the twelfth time

...not stripping away the layers that make your characters more real, because they hit too close to home.

...realizing that your ministry and vulnerability levels are in direct relation.

...not attaching your self-worth to rejection or acceptance in the publishing world but recognizing your identity in Christ.

...daring to write the books of your heart, even if its not the type of book you think fits in the industry.

...knowing your value so that you can persevere in the writing life the way God intends.

I struggle with putting myself out there when I write devotional type posts. I know these posts require realness of heart and when I hold back I notice the difference. Its when I am the most vulnerable my writing seems to connect with readers. Another fear of mine I am learning to combat is fear of rejection. I struggle with shame and lack of worthiness at those times.

I highly recommend any of Brene's books. I am learning and growing through her fantastic course on Daring Greatly.


**Is rejection, failure or another fear holding you back in your writing life? If you're willing to share here, I would love to enter you to win a copy of DARING GREATLY by Brene Brown, one of my favorite reads of this year and a book that has been life-changing for many.**

Julia Reffner has been a writer and reviewer for Library Journal for several years. She also is a regular blogger for the devotional site Wonderfully Woven. A wife, homeschool mom, and children's ministry leader, Julia resides in central Virginia.

Let's Get Real

Yesterday, Karen wrote an amazing post about deepening the emotional resonance of your prose. If you missed it, scroll down! But today, I'm going to talk about another way to deepen the layers of your story, and that is by writing honestly.

Have you ever read a story and thought to yourself, "Give me a break. That would never happen in real life"? I find this happens a lot with romances because they're so formulaic. And I feel cheated every time I invest in a story, only to realize I've read the exact same thing fifty times. This can happen in any genre. The hero is a little too perfect. The heroine reminds us of a certain curvy plastic doll. And the only thing keeping them from finding what they're looking for is a little self-discovery. A trip to France, and wha-la! Everything is perfect. We're left with that just-ate-too-much-sugar feeling.

I think we have a responsibility as authors to be honest with our audience and honest with ourselves. It's not easy. All too often, when I'm writing, I get this sneaking suspicion that I'm not quite digging deep enough to my heart for the story. Has this ever happened to you? It can be so much easier to write surficial prose and play it safe, writing what we think readers will want to buy.

But is this really being true to our calling?

Writing deep, honest prose is difficult because it requires vulnerability on our part. The critiques, the contest feedback, the rejections all hit us on a more personal level when we've put ourselves, our own struggles, into our writing. But the results are so much more rewarding. These are the stories that inspire, that stick with the reader. These are the stories that change lives.

The following are three ways I think we can be intentional about conveying that vulnerability and crafting better stories.


1) Honest characters. Your characters need struggles as much as they need strengths. I have found that for me, my characters' struggles have to resonate on a personal level with me in order for them to be believable and for me to write these characters honestly. Does that mean every character is an autobiography? Of course not. You would only write one book if that were the case. But we have passions outside of our personal experience. Maybe you never went through something your friends struggled with because someone gave you sound advice, and you feel passionate about giving the same advice to others. Or maybe it's displaying the complexity of a problem or conveying sympathy. But no matter the theme, your characters have to portray that honesty, which takes authorial vulnerability.

2) Honest plot. In real life, people have struggles. Even a lighter story needs to demonstrate this complexity. Oversimplifying things might keep you from squirming too much as a writer, but it will also feel weak to the reader. Your main character doesn't have to be dealing with a terminal illness in order to show a struggle. Maybe she just feels lonely. Or she's got a big crush on some guy who doesn't even know her name. Or her best friend is moving away, and she's trying to put on a strong front even though she's hurting. These things are all ways to show deeper, honest levels of your characters' emotion in a way that comes across as honest to the reader. Try to incorporate these things into your plot instead of going with the first thing that comes to mind. It will endear your readers so much more to your story and leave a more lasting impact.

3) Honest voice. You have a unique writing voice. You may not know what it is yet, but it's there and it's brilliant-- I promise you. Voice comes more easily to some than others, so don't be discouraged if it's not your thing yet. But regardless of how strong you perceive your own voice to be, it's important to realize that for an author's voice to work, it's got to be honest. Otherwise, the line-by-line of your manuscript is going to sound hollow. For example, my writing voice lends itself to comedy. For years, I didn't realize this. As I was working on my M.A., I thought I was a terrible creative writer because I was trying so hard to be literary. But then one day, through the grace of God (literally), it dawned on me that comedy was my thing. Even if you've identified your writing voice, writing in your voice doesn't always come naturally. Things like fear of rejection, too many critiques, and even burnout can get in the way. Sometimes it's really difficult to get in the groove, so to speak. With comedy, I have found that I often get nervous that other people are not going to think I am funny. But when these doubts come, you have to push through. Don't try to hide behind someone else's writing style. Be who you are, because that is who God has called you to be.

Don't be afraid to be vulnerable. Make the first move, and readers will feel comfortable allowing themselves to be vulnerable too. And really, isn't that what good writing's all about?

How have you found honesty to be important in your own writing? What about in the books you read?

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Ashley Clark writes romantic comedy with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.