We all have different goals when it comes to writing a book. One of the things I always try to put into my books is honesty. That usually comes in my books in the form of people saying and thinking things that people are often too nervous to be open about in reality – myself included. I find the honesty in my writing my best quality. I also find it my worse because I often worry I am too honest in it and depending on the reader that can be quite scary. But I think the pros outweigh the cons for me on both a personal and professional level. In this blog post I am going to give you five tips on how to be a more honest writer if that is something you would like to be. Hope they help. 🙂
Be Passionate About Your Subject
If you are passionate about a topic, it is easier to be honest about it. You care about you are talking about and with that comes a feeling of responsibility to not shy away from speaking about this passionately. Personally with me for example that is generally inequality and the normalizing of inequality so when I go on a run about that, it’s real and that translates as honest hopefully to a reader and that all comes from having a deep passion about what I am putting across. So my advice to you is find a topic you feel strongly about because then you will be more inclined to want to do it justice.
Allow Your Personality To Influence Your Writing Style
There is going to be certain things you are going to be told not to do as a writer. Don’t write too informal. Don’t write too formal. Don’t be too sentimental. Don’t be too preachy. I would ignore it all because while those things don’t suit one reader, they suit another. It’s subjective but almost every reader can spot if it is not authentic to that writer. Some writers don’t put their personality into their books but it is a very good way of getting honesty into your writing because your thoughts and how you see the world are something you can write with honest detail and others will relate to things you put in the book. You might think your thoughts are so out there or whatever but sorry to burst your bubble, any thought you have has probably been thought by someone else somewhere.
Don’t Be Afraid To Go Against The Grain
A lot of characters are very identical in a lot of books. For example the introvert who is scared of people or the non-LGBTQAI+ person seeking approval so badly from parents. And listen those stereotypes exist so it is important to have them in books but that isn’t every introvert or every non-LGBTQAI+ person. If you are not a person who believes in stereotypes like me then it makes your writing dishonest when you copy what another writer does. That writer might believe in stereotypes but if you don’t it is going to come across really fake.
Pretend You Aren’t Writing Something People Will Read
I am not sure I would write half the stuff I write if I was constantly thinking this is going out for publication. It is often the fear of the reaction which makes us write safe and not what we really want to write ourselves. Try as much you can to forget why you are writing this and write it for you and let it flow. At the end, you always have the option not to publish it. And if you do decide to publish but you are nervous, hit the publish/send button quick. It can be hard but try as best as you can to try and not let fear destroy you from writing and putting out something you have always wanted to write. It is scary as all hell but the most rewarding thing in the world.
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