When you’re first starting out, it can be difficult to trust your instincts since you’re not sure you even know what you’re doing. But learning to trust your instincts is an important part of growing as a writer. Just because someone tells you to change something… that doesn’t mean you absolutely must. If a dozen people are saying the same thing, you might want to heed their advice. But in the end, it’s your story. And you always have the final say.
A storyteller is seeking to entertain by providing what Randy Ingermanson calls the “powerful, emotional experience.” That’s it. Sure, there are tons of writing rules to learn, but it all comes down to making the reader care about what’s going on. And Robert Frost wisely understood that if he cared, so would the reader. And that’s how you know that the story is working.
Have you ever found yourself bored by your own story? Have you ever made yourself laugh or cry?
