The Road To Great Writing (This Way!)

“As the profound Stephen King once told me through the written text: ‘When you write, your greatest asset is your honesty’. Honesty is a tool that no literally technique can substitute and no writer can be considered great without it. But not all honesty is delivered unpackaged, raw and upfront in your face like a Wrestlemania Battle Royale-sorry folks, no HBO all-access deal. A writer’s honesty sneaks in, subtle and forgettable. Like a picked-up penny that changes your luck, not through mysticism, but with a single seconds delay in time that readjusts your life, unidentified and unknowingly.

But honestly alone is hardly the golden goose for writers, it is a mere breadcrumb in the long and winding road to great writing. But, what I want to mention now is another set of dropped crumbs in the road to success, one that is commonly known yet seldom acknowledged by the traveler during his or her voyage as he or she typically remains focused on moving forward. But these crumbs unlike the others is not a tool, or trick of the trade, but still very much important. It’s your allies’ support.

Your greatest allies are those friends and family – the ones that put up with your long absences while writing, help you when you’re in a financial dry spell, or when you’re lost in a drunken splendor-that no matter what, they won’t judge you. Fact. And point made.

These incredible people, the ones that love you and support you are invaluable in your journey to success, but like any good person they must be loved back and supported equally because they travel on a very similar road (A road, which unfortunately tends to feel isolating, intimidating, and solitary much to often).

Now, you may be asking why honesty was brought up first when the moral of our story sits in family and friendship. It’s important to note that our journey is not the type that you can throw yourself into mid-trip. It runs along a carefully drawn-out road by gapping breadcrumbs that build on each other. We can’t readily and fully acknowledge our friends and family if we don’t know how to write honestly and openly. Only the truth can say the truth. Anything else is a lie.”

-DL

You, my Write In Color readers, are my greatest allies. Thank you for supporting me and my writing by subscribing to this blog or even just reading it from time to time. If you enjoy this blog, you’ll love my book, The Agency. It’s filled with the same vivid writing and imagery that defines Write In Color. It also happens to be on sale on Amazon (print and Kindle versions both under $10) so please show me some love and pick it up today. Here’s the link. On a side note, I’m working on new cover art (a post to come on that issue soon). If you read it and have ideas for a great cover, or have a comment on the book, please share your thoughts with me.

With gratitude,

Melody