“WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET”

                    

                                             Transparency in Writing

            Life is sometimes like a magic trick.  What you see is not always what is.  An illusion.  An impression of reality, but not real. As a writer and a requirement of my profession, is to create alternate universes.  To seduce the mind into believing that what is written on paper, is real.

Therefore, being transparent in what you write about is crucial.  What I mean by this is that although the stories are fictional, completely made up.  However, the passion, and emotion within each character is essentially real.

How can this be true you might ask? If the characters aren’t real and the story is fictional, how can anything about the situation hold any truth.

The substance of any story is based on personal experiences. Perhaps not the intimate details of one’s life.  But the emotion behind them.

It is important as a writer to allow these feelings to drive the story and move the reader.  Often, they relate what they see in the characters within themselves.

Life is not always simple.  It comes with pitfalls, highs and lows, love hate relationships, and tragedy.  What I discovered as a writer, is that all things are relatable.  Whether in fictional situations are reality.

I learned to use these elements as instruments of my trade to draw the readers into the story.  Projecting emotions and humanity as a way to let them inside my universe.  I allowed the reader to see me in what I write.

Some of my best writing comes about when I let go of my inhibitions and reveal myself.

You can’t write about life situations if you’re unwilling to expose the secrets behind them. Interjecting bits of who you are into each character. 

Yes, we are masters of make believe, and illusions.  But we are also human. Interpretation, allows the readers to identify with the characters through your eyes.

What I discovered throughout these many years of writing, is that holding out small essences of myself was denying the readers, the full potency of the characters I introduced to them.

I know that the stories I create isn’t about me on a personal level.  But fragments of who I am is still reflected in the characters.

It’s okay to show the readers that you are very much human.  I’ve been on the other side of a book, as a reader.  And was affected emotionally and life jarringly to the passion and amount of rawness depicted by the characters.

It laid me open and I felt what the writer was trying to convey through transparency. I love authors who aren’t afraid to open the doors of their hearts wide for the readers to see. The ability to make me laugh out loud and cry.  To feel joy, anger, and remorse.  

The normalcy of life, conveyed in the form of a story through transparency.   

I’ve always been just as passionate about what I read as I am about what I write.  I am an emotional writer.  And unafraid to admit it.  This wasn’t always the case in my personal life. Introverted, held prisoner by my own mental hang-ups.

Reticent, in life didn’t transfer well over into my career as a writer. I had to learn not to allow my overwhelming shyness to cripple me.

A friend once said to me, if you want to be a great writer then you must bare your soul.  I didn’t understand this at the time.  Now, I appreciate the advice because it forced me to move outside of my comfort zone.

Transparency, is baring your nakedness before the world.  Dispelling all the layers that keeps you hidden from being your true self as a writer.

Remember, honesty is always the best policy.  In real life, and on paper.