Should I keep my Writing Secret?

One of the purposes for this blog is to chronicle my journey to writing my first novel. So along the way I'm going to be posting little journal excerpts like this one. I actually journal a lot in my "real life" so this feels natural for me. So, welcome to my first Writing Journal Entry.

Should I keep My Writing Secret?

For the longest time, I can remember a struggle between sharing my writing and keeping it a secret. I'm a naturally introverted and secretive person so I keep a lot to myself. But there's also this popular thing I see going on around me called "sharing". I see writers on blogs, pinterest, and facebook all sharing their story ideas and their writing stats. Whenever I see this I constantly sway back and forth between wanting to spill everything about my story and keeping it private.

When I was younger I found it difficult to share my stories with others because they'd always look at me like I was odd. Nowadays I've accepted that I'm odd and I like it that way. But back then it was a real struggle! And whenever I told someone about my story ideas...it's like all my motivation for the story vanished afterward. It was as if I'd let something loose too soon and it flew away.

Obviously, because I started this blog, I do want to share my writing. But I also don't want to give it all away at the same time. I've been stuck with this dilemma for years!

I thought I was alone until I read K.M Weiland's article "Should You Keep Your Writing A Secret?" It changed everything!

From her perspective writing is a very personal endeavor. For the majority of the creative process, forseeing the plot, discovering the characters, and mentally living in the setting are all things that the author must do alone. If they let someone in before the proper time then they run the risk of losing what they were trying to discover within themselves. All it takes is one negative comment in the early stages of a project to completely kill the author's motivation. That's why Weiland thinks an author shouldn't reveal a story until a first draft is completed.

I whole-heartedly agree with what Weiland has to say in her article. I know I can't run the risk of exposing the essence of my story so early in it's development. I know myself well enough to know that it's too vulnerable right now. It's already taken me years to get to this point where I'm activly working on the story every day. So I've decided I'm not going to sabotage myself by revealing anything too early.

But what about this desire I have to connect with other readers and writers who share similar interests to mine? I'd like them to be excited about my story too as it grows. Now we come to one of the big reasons for this blog. Now that I'm in my twenties I finally realize that I need accountability if I'm going to get anything done. Posting regularly on a blog is a good form of accountability don't you think? I can publish each step of the process here and still keep a certain sense of secrecy about the project.

This is such an exciting prospect for me. I can stay true to my secretive nature and nothing is wrong with it! I can find the balance through the use of this blog and still connect with peolpe who share my passions for writing and the ancient world. Now that I'm all pumped up, I should get to work on my project!

 

 

 

 

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