Des 2. Alone Together

As artists, especially writers, we clasp to our work so closely as we hide our papers under our arms. We are often intimidated to share our works with other talented artists and can become insecure and think…Is this good enough? Will other people like this? But is their work better? I am sure nearly all writers have felt this way and when collaborating with other writers, we would become even more protective and insecure of our work. I mean, I compare myself to Charles Bukowski and am often left feeling let down and jealous of his magnificent writing mind. In a Brain Pickings article titled, Annie Dillard on Writing put together by Maria Popova, Dillard states,

“The notion that one can write better during one season of the year than another Samuel Johnson labelled, “Imagination operating upon luxury.” Another luxury for an idle imagination is the writer’s own feeling about the work. There is neither a proportional relationship, nor an inverse one, between a writer’s estimation of a work in progress and its actual quality. The feeling that the work is magnificent and the feeling that it is abominable, are both mosquitoes to be repelled, ignored, or killed, but not indulged.”

What Dillard says hits a little too close to home. As a writer I can sometimes indulge in my work too deeply. Instead of questioning ourselves and over-analysing our writing, we should just write and write and write, whether we think it is a masterpiece or rubbish, just keep going. No work is set in stone and can always be edited and changed. It is all part of the creative process and becoming comfortable with your work, but there is always room for improvement. Creating art is to be vulnerable. It is allowing other people to take a visit into the deepest corners of your mind and to accept whatever criticisms or praises come your way. The most rewarding thing for me when writing and listening to what other people feel about my work is when they say, “I can relate to that.” To read something that a stranger has written with their heart sitting on the desk next to them and feeling like you can relate to what this person is going through is the most rewarding thing about reader/writer relationships. Yes, some may say, that we read to be informed or entertained, but the most significant reason why I read and write is to feel less alone and to make others feel the same.

Creating real and true works, pouring your heart and soul into your writing is what we need more of. To stop worrying what other people think of our work and just create by staying true to ourselves. We must not indulge in our insecurities; to let it all go, write and fearlessly share it with others. Because what is the point of creating something if it cannot be shared? Dillard says it perfectly once again,

 “One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now… Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.”

Therefore, are there times when you have been too afraid to share your work? Or been too critical on yourself? If so, why? The fact that you have already created something is brave in itself.