Finding Authenticity
Writing is hard.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about authenticity. I hadn’t quite thought about this specific word until I was watching a YouTube video from Surviving Animation about pitching shows (here’s a link to the specific bit) and I realized this idea of “authenticity” is at the crux of what I keep hearing people asking for.
Merriam-Webster defines “authentic” as
: true to one's own personality, spirit, or character
is sincere and authentic with no pretensions
I think authenticity is what people seek most in pretty much everything we put out there: in our books, in our interactions, and even in our social media feeds. That’s why great books resonate with us so deeply, because they tap into authentic universal feelings and experiences. That’s also a good part of the reason that the selling and marketing of our books is so intertwined with ourselves these days—people want to know how you, the author, connect to the contents of the book.
Pick ideas that are true to you
If I look at my books, they almost always tap into something deeply true to me. A combination of STEM and imagination. Surprising interactivity. A socially blundering Chinese American girl. (Who, me?) As I evaluate new ideas, I try to think about how they resonate with me:
What is it that I want to say/share with this story?
What would I love to write and why?
A huge part of being authentic is following your gut. So I end up going back and forth between these questions. The story has to be meaningful to me. It has to ring true. It has to be something that I am proud of and that I love. Otherwise, I won’t work on it obsessively until it works.
Writing Books is Hard
A few months ago, I was walking with a (non-writer) friend who said, “People must say to you all the time, ‘I bet I could write a book if I put my mind to it.’”
And I said “Yeah, but the ‘putting your mind to it’ part is kind of the whole thing.”
I was being glib, but I also meant it. It’s really hard to write a book. It’s a huge mental commitment. It requires you believing in an idea so strongly that you’ll stick with it for years. It requires you constantly looking at your story from different angles, tweaking it until it’s lovable. It requires wrangling that messy first draft into something great, after an unknown but probably very long period of rethinking and rewriting. And it’s hard to make it to the end point unless the story is deeply true to you.
Go With the Flow…
I don’t mean for this post to make you overthink. Just write! Write what you love, write what you want to write. Get that messy first draft done. (Yeah! Do as I say, not as I do.)
But every once in a while, think about WHY you wanted to write it.
Why is this idea important to me and how will I make it important to the reader?
Why am I the person that can do that?
Identify what makes the story authentic to you. Pull that up and make it shine.
(I know, easier said than done. But that’s the job we signed up for!)
Take your time
Figuring all of this stuff out takes time. Give your ideas time and space to deepen, without pressuring yourself to get to the finish line too quickly. Maybe this means writing a million drafts, or maybe this means not writing until your idea is rich enough. I need to do the latter, because once I start writing, I start feeling locked into things. I can step away again, but I like to give it as much time as possible before I write a draft. But I know others that never get to the writing part! (I hear this especially from nonfiction writers who just keep. On. Researching.) So figure out what helps your idea take shape, and take the time to let it.
This Advice Was For Me
I’m thinking about this all because I’m thinking of new projects and my brain is bouncing out new ideas at a rapid pace. I’m trying to slow down, find the ones that are most authentic to me, and take my time to let them develop. I hope my advice to self helps you wherever you are in your process, to take a moment to think about what makes your story authentic to you.
Thanks so much for this great advice, Vicky..I'm finding that I am leaning into this more and more, and trying to be "bolder" about my stories. Wishing you all the best on all of your projects!!