No Fish Stories: Write Your Testimony From the Heart
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Avoid Crafty Traps In Essay WritingHidden pitfalls are on watch for your paper success in every paragraph of the essay you write. They are notorious misprints, insidious misspellings and numerous stylistic, syntax and format errors. Indeed they are your .....
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No Fish Stories: Write Your Testimony From the Heart
by Barbara Carr Phillips
Self-Editing Your WritingMuch of what I do at my "day job" involves editing what others have
written. Eliminating typos, repairing damaged grammar, replacing
missing or misused punctuation--I relish editing, in a r .....
When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net." And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. (Luke 5:4-6 NKJV)
Sometimes I get really tired of talking to my little Beta fish, Bob. It's not that I don't enjoy his company. He never interrupts me, always has time to listen to my troubles, and keeps everything I say in complete confidence. But the trouble with Bob is he never trusts me with any of his struggles. He just floats around in his little bowl as though he doesn't have a care in the world.
Well, I've got news for you, Bob. Nobody's life is that perfect. I suppose I should be grateful for your listening ear. It's just hard to be real with a friend who seems to have it all together, all the time.
Self-revelation is a necessary process when writing from the heart. We have to earn the trust of our readers for the story to mean anything to them. I wish I could say it's easy to keep putting my life out there for anyone to read, but it isn't.
It's easier for me to say "we" instead of "I". I remember a phone conversation I had last winter with a good friend. She had buried her mother a few months prior to our conversation, and was struggling with her sister's terminal illness.
"We love you," I said, but I knew I didn't say enough.
"We love you," I repeated, "all of us do." Still, it sounded empty.
Designing A Successful Writing CareerSeveral years ago, I received a call from a friend of mine in a
city about 2 hours away. She and another had just started an
new company in medical consulting and needed someone to
come and do about 3 days of data entry. She asked me, .....
"I love you," I said, finally saying what I wanted to say the first time.
Why was that so hard'
Because saying "we" puts me with the gang, and I feel less vulnerable in a crowd. "I" puts me out there front and center with no one to hide behind. Getting close enough to my heart to write the "I" of a difficult situation is a painful process.
I have winced more than once after reading one of my published stories. I feel the force of the loss of privacy. I worry that I might have caused someone embarrassment. I wonder if I'll be ostracized by my family and friends. I imagine them talking about me. "Can you believe she wrote about that!"
So why write it'
I do it because to many people who don't know me, I look just like Bob. When I show up for church, I float into the sanctuary like I don't have a care in the world. But I don't have it ......
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