It's All Relative

It's all relative.

I am sure that almost all of you have heard this Idiom before. For anyone that may not know what it means; it basically sums up that we have different perspectives on life.  If I grew up in the country and you grew up in the city, we each have a way of living, beliefs, knowledge and skills that the other person would not have. Therefore our views, or opinions, on one same thing would relate to our own backgrounds or upbringing.

And what does this have to do with writing?

Well, every person that reads your story is going to have their own views already set. We carry our history with us, where we've been, who we know, what we have done.

Therefore I feel when we are writing stories not only should our grammar and prose be great, but also our descriptions. If I am writing about the snow in the mountains and a person from the Caribbean is reading it, but they have never seen the snow, or felt the bitter cold that permeates every inch of your body, they will just be reading words. As a writer you want to bring the reader right into the story, you want them to see the mountain and feel that cold. Or if writing horror you want them to get goosebumps and look in the closet before bed, or fall in love, or burn with hatred ... this is your job as a writer.

This also relates (see its relative) to rejection.  Even if you are an amazing writer, it doesn't mean that every single person out there is going to go goo-goo for your book.  I am sure that we have all been there, you have a favorite author, you read all their work, and then one day you pick up one of their books and you think it stinks -but others love it - their writing hasn't changed.  So what was it? The topic? The genre? A character that rubbed you the wrong way? It most likely was no error on the authors' side, but something that relates to you and your life, or beliefs, or even just where you are in life at the moment.

So in closing, get out there, write whatever you want and make it great. Practice, ask for advice, get to know others and do what makes you happy. 

As Albert Einstein once said -

"When a pretty girl sits on your lap for an hour, it seems like a minute. When you sit on a hot stove for a minute, it seems like an hour.”  

My blog of the week, short and sweet. Happy writing my friends. Theresa