Apple Cupcakes: Writing From the Heart
Green, red or yellow? Sweet or tart? If you decide you want to make an apple cupcake, you have an array of recipes to choose from: with spice, as a streusel, with caramel, and the list goes on.
I think as writers it's far too easy to fall into what I call an "I don't know what to write that others will like to read" freak out phase. But just like all apples have a core, all writers have a heart. If you write from the heart, that's where the seeds are. It's vulnerable, yes, but if you want your writing to bear any fruit, you have to be willing to dig deep and share what you are with the world. Doesn't matter what you think others will want to read. Just write what matters to you. And maybe, just maybe, it'll matter to others too.
Mark Twain says to "Write what you know." I don't know if I agree completely with the man. I've had to do quite a bit of research on creativity and neuroscience for one of the books I was writing, and I loved every minute of it. I didn't know much about neuroscience, but I was fascinated with the concept and so I was willing to research it, willing to spend years of my life crafting what I found into a story. It mattered to me, and that's what made me sit down and write and write, and then then rewrite and rewrite. It was a story in my heart that needed to come out.
What story is hidden in your heart?
