I’ll be the first to admit I hate reading autobiographies. Please don’t get upset if you love them. This isn’t a slam on the form, it’s a personal preference. It might also have something to do with the deluge of autobiographies out these days, not all of them worth reading in my humble opinion (although I suppose the same could be said for fiction). I love reading and writing fiction, but generally avoid non-fiction.
You might think this means I prefer to live in a fantasy world instead the real one, and there’s some truth to that. I sometimes find fictional settings more appealing than real life. I think anyone who is passionate about fiction feels that way from time to time. Fiction is, at its heart, pure escapism.
So as a writer, what can you do to imbed your reader’s mind in your imaginary world, be it some far away planet, a fantastical forest, or a story playing out in downtown New York?
I’ve recently received constructive feedback on my own writing that might hold a clue. The reviewer said something to the effect of (slight paraphrasing here for brevity): Humour is one of your strengths. You should use it more.
The sections the reviewer highlighted were instances in which I had let my personality shine through, consciously exposing myself to the reader. It struck me how infrequently I did this, and I realized I had formed two distinct identities as a writer. Perhaps you’ve done something similar. Don’t worry, I’m not talking about a genuine mental disorder here; I had done this purposefully and consciously. It was an integral part of how I approached writing.
When I sit down to write, the writer part of me — let’s call him Mr. Writer — carefully edits lines so they read more smoothly, critically analyzes characters and situations so they work together cohesively, and generally designs the story in a similar fashion to how an architect might design a bridge. I see Mr. Writer as the adult among the two of us, taking the story seriously. Once in a while Mr. Writer will let me, the goofy guy sitting along for the ride, to take the wheel and have a little fun. Always limited, of course, to a few sentences that can be edited out later by Mr. Writer if he so chooses. Sometimes he even leaves a few of my blurbs in after the second draft, and those are the bits my reviewer picked up on.
This got me thinking — why do I have this dual personality? Why can’t I just be myself when I write? I think a big part of it is fear. I read that Stephen King thinks the root of bad writing is fear and the resulting inability to tell the truth. I think my own writing still suffers from my inability to be myself. Mr. Writer is in charge, treating me like a kid, occasionally letting me pretend I’m steering the car. I believe the reason I created Mr. Writer in the first place is because I’m afraid I’m not interesting enough to be the voice behind the story. The great irony here is that Mr. Writer is himself a fictional character I created.
Remember I started this article by saying I’m not a huge fan of autobiographies, so I’m not suggesting that you should make your fiction all about you. It’s still fiction, after all. What you can do is fire Mr. Writer and take the helm, even if it’s scary and uncomfortable at first, and let your personality shine through. Imbue your writing with your unique point-of-view on the world. Easier said than done, right? I know. I’m still struggling with it. Yet I’m convinced all the greats do this to a large extent.
Moving forward I plan to expand those small patches of myself that the reviewer spotted in my current writing into larger portraits. I hope you do this too. I believe this was what Stephen King was talking about when he said a good writer needs to tell the truth.
