The Untold Power of Audacious Writers: Guest Post by Deb Boyken

May 1, 2009 · by Joanna Paterson · in

Audacity means to be daring, bold–to put yourself out in the world with confidence, to see what you can do.

So, how can a writer be audacious? On the surface, at least, writing is one of the most introspective activities. Sitting quietly with a pen and paper, musing over thoughts, picking out just the right word … writers don’t look audacious. People have an image of a starving writer in a garrett, or a novelist tapping away on his keyboard by a sunlit window. Even when they think about collaborative forms of writing like, say, script writers bouncing ideas around a table, the image is contained. The words are ricocheting across the table, but they’re not leaving the room, and the point is to capture the words

So, how is this remotely Audacious?

Simple.

Unless a writer is putting down private thoughts into a journal, the intent is that the words being written will be read. This isn’t a surprise. You’re thinking that of course they’re going to be read, that’s the point. Which is exactly true. As a rule, a writer doesn’t interact with anything other than the words in his or her head and the medium for writing it. The reader doesn’t even come into the equation until much, much later, when they read the book, open the newspaper, see the movie, read the press release. But, think about it–what makes a writer so sure that what he or she puts down on paper is going to be worth the time and effort for someone else to read it?

Now, that’s audacity for you. The conviction that what you are writing is not only good and interesting, but valuable enough in its insights, knowledge, wisdom and authority that it’s worth being read.

I’m here to tell you that writers are NOT meek and mild-mannered. We might look quiet and introspective while we write, but really? We are powerful. We are Clark Kent with Superman just below the surface. We are superheroes with untold power, untapped ability, and unseen passion. It’s just that our disguise is so perfect, our deception so convincing, that most people don’t see past the surface.

Never doubt that that power and passion are there. Properly crafted words can (and have) change the world. They can entertain and inform. And they can reach countless numbers of people.

And that’s the Writer’s secret.

Deep in our bones, we know that we can change the world. We might look like we’re just typing a blog post or writing a press release to pay our rent, but really? We’re just biding our time, because we know that we hold the ultimate power–we can capture your imagination, fire your soul, and inspire you to believe you can do anything.

If that’s not audacity, I don’t know what is.

~~~

Deb BoykenLet me to introduce you to –Deb:

Deb Boyken spends an inordinate amount of her free time baking, knitting, spinning yarn, reading, and playing with her dog, but mostly, let’s not forget, she writes.

She writes about knitting at www.knittingscholar.com, writes about writing and freelancing at www.punctualityrules.com, and writes about more or less everything else at www.chappysmom.com.

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