Your Writing Belongs To You, But It’s Not FOR You
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Writing isn’t something that most of us choose, it chooses you.
SUPER cliche, but IYKYK
You know who you are.
For some, the weapon of choice was the composition notebook and a Pilot G-2.
For others, it’s the iPhone notes that do the trick.
Regardless, when you have words overflowing out of your soul, you really don’t have a choice on what you have to do.
You have to write.
Don’t you dare try to run from that gift. Because that’s what it really is; a gift.
Your mind works differently than the rest.
You process the experiences you’re going through as blogs you want to write.
You find yourself mid-conversation with friends and family putting together catchy titles for the article you just thought about from the thing your friend said 5 min ago.
In the actual present conversation, you have NO idea what they are saying because you’ve already started writing the piece in your head.
Sure you can make money writing. Especially here on Medium… But that's not what this is about. There are SO many other ways to make money.
We write because this is where the fire inside of us escapes. This is the way our minds work, the way we make sense of the world and the journey we’re on.
These Stories Are Yours
And no one can take them away from you… But you have to understand that when you decide to post that story and put it out into the world, it is not FOR you anymore. Nor should it be.
It’s for the reader.
Whoever that reader might be.
Maybe there’s millions of readers
Or maybe there’s just one.
Your piece is for them now.
That reader is the life you are influencing.
They are the ones taking action on, or processing through what you’re writing.
Their life, even if by an unnoticeable amount, has now been changed.
Your story still belongs to you. You found it deep within and pulled it out, forming it into a mailable, tangible, living, breathing thing… but it’s not for you anymore.
If you want it to be for you. Keep a journal. Keep a diary. Keep it in your phone or composition notebook. Keep it safe and secure.
But with a gift like yours, with the passion that flows out of you, with the experiences you’ve had and the journey you’ve been on or that you’re still on… why?
Why keep that to yourself. Stories are meant to be told.
They are meant to be passed on. That’s how we learn, grow and adapt. That’s how we EVOLVE.
And that’s why when you plan to share your stories, don’t write them for you, write them for everyone else.
For the past you, that wishes you knew what you know now.
The high school kid that doesn’t fit in.
The tired dad struggling through a tough phase of parenting.
The beginning entrepreneur trying to change the trajectory of their family.
The writer that is just starting out.
Write for them.
When you do decide to share the gift you have, I promise you, there IS a reader waiting for it.