If you write, write vulnerably.
Let me give you an example.
Political memoirs are not that great to read. Do you know why?
They read, a lot like a politician sounds: Rehearsed.
I don’t want to listen to a politician’s talking points, and I don’t want to read them much either.
I want to talk to my best friend.
Maybe we are sitting around a campfire late at night, or we are at my favorite diner early in the morning.
And I don’t want to talk about the weather or exchange cliches.
I want to talk about our struggles, our fears, our dreams, and our legacies.
This is why Donald Miller resonates.
It’s why Anne Lamott does too.
“If something inside you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work. Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. Don’t worry about appearing sentimental. Worry about being unavailable; worry about being absent or fraudulent. Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it. If you’re a writer, you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary act—truth is always subversive.”
–Anne Lamott, Bird By Bird
