Innovative Editing started a new series on Pinterest a few weeks ago called the “Genuine Writer.” It involves a series of inspirations and encouragements for writers to be the most admirable versions of themselves that they can possibly be.
The first installment goes like this:
The Genuine Writer:
Someone who loves to write, whether fiction or non-fiction, autobiographical or otherwise, creative or business; a writer who recognizes the strengths they definitely have and seeks to improve on their weaknesses.
Unfortunately, that simple description seems to be much easier said than done these days, hence the reason why I started the series in the first place.
This blog post isn’t meant to put anyone down, hence the reason why it isn’t going to call anyone out. With that said, I do believe it’s becoming increasingly more obvious that there are too many writers who skate by.
They have a name, and so they bank on that and that alone.
They have connections, and so they bank on those and those alone.
Or they have the passion to write, and so, once again, they go for it without considering anything else about the publishing process.
I know that people rag on the fortunate few a lot these days. But you’re not going to find that here at Innovative Editing. This is not a whiny, woe-is-me kind of blog. It’s an encouraging study in reality, helping you find where you’re at, what you can do and where you can go from there.
And reality acknowledges that fixating on what other people have accomplished instead of what you yourself can achieve isn’t the way to get anywhere good. Then again, reality also acknowledges that life is about more than just who you are, who you know and what you like.
So if you have a famous name, awesome! Use it to its best advantage. The same goes for connections. Work them! And if you have a passion to write, then write ‘til your heart’s content.
Just don’t use any of that as a crutch or entitlement.
Wherever you’re at in your writing journey, don’t ever stop seeking to be better: to invigorate your narrative, to seek out new ways of thinking and writing, to construct better stories (regardless of whether you’re taking on fiction or non-fiction genres), and to engage your readers on new intellectual, emotional and spiritual levels – always striving to be honest with them and with yourself.
Because, again, genuine writers – the very best kind of writers to be – don’t sit around moping about the skills they don’t have. They recognize their strengths, and they celebrate them, promoting those talents like they’re God’s gift to readers.
But, just as importantly, they temper those egos with the understanding that they’re not perfect. And while they recognize that they’ll never be perfect in this life, they also know that improvement is always achievable.
So fiction and non-fiction, autobiographical and otherwise, creative and business writers… ask yourself this…
Do you want to be stale? Or do you want to be genuine?
As a reader, editor and fellow writer, I really hope it’s the latter.