At heart, I am a visual storyteller. A full-body dream weaver. And I always have been. It’s no wonder I’ve tried so many different art forms in order to get my stories out. From Thespian to theatre and film director to poet to song writer and musical composer.
My first stories were born from me playing in my backyard, climbing into the wild and wonderful worlds in my imagination (hello wind prince!), and returning at the end of the day to the “real world” to tell everyone all about my wacky adventures and the colorful characters I met along the way.
I believe that stories are a form of REAL LIFE MAGIC. They can transform reality and therefore have the power to transform lives.
As the bards, the architects and dream weavers of these stories, it is our job to use all of the senses to transport the reader from their everyday existence and into something extra-ordinary.
So, as tempting as it is, we have to be wary of falling too in love with our own words (and believe me when I say we all do this!). Unfortunately, a set of well-crafted words laid down on a blank page does not always equal perfection.
There is such a thing as over working a story. Or being so far removed that the language no longer touches us. And, as important as proof-reading is, a reader can actually forgive a few typos and a bit of bad grammar (though not too much!) if the story is reaching up and grabbing them by the heart and soul.
That’s what our writing mentors mean when they say, “Show, don’t tell.” We don’t need to tell the reader what to feel, we just need to write a story compelling enough that they can’t help but FEEL as they read it.
With love,
M.S.
All images are sourced from the wonderful UNSPLASH community.
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