on sharing

I’m a true romantic at heart. 

This may come as a surprise to some; it’s not in my nature to gush about love to other people. But I love romance movies. I love romance novels. I love dreaming of a romantic love that’s wholly enveloping like a warm hug, or a wintertime hearth.

Somewhere in my adolescent bedroom there’s a milkcrate filled with composition books of love writing - poems, fiction, both, neither. My Google Drive has its own dedicated folder to this, too. I entertain the idea of publishing a romance novel someday, under a pseudonym, because my romance imaginings are my mind’s own playground. 

My former workplace is an organization that champions young people by publishing and sharing their work. In doing so, affirming that young people’s words have value. I don’t disagree with this notion at all. My first ever publication credit was my high school’s literary journal. Even though I had a milk crate full of composition books in my room, even though I gave myself a pen name when I was eight (Elaine Brewer, in case you’re wondering) and even though teachers at every grade level told me “hey, you’re good at this and you should keep at it,” the validation of publication was a new kind of headrush. To know that others thought my words had value was fuel for me as a young wordsmith.

As important as it is for young (and really, any) writers to receive encouragement early on, it’s just as important to develop one’s own sensibilities. To be able to articulate what you like, what implores you to dig deeper, what doesn’t interest you, is invaluable. I’ve gained all of those insights from my private writing. I’ve always been my first audience. I’ve learned that if you’re selfish in a way that’s true to your personhood, others will see themselves in your art too. 

There’s a lot of writing noise in the world. Advice on what kind of space you need to write in, which parts of speech you should trim, what questions to ask yourself in the dead of the night to affirm that this whole thing is for you. Fine for perspective’s sake, but none of it directs art. You do.

The only writing advice I really fuck with is to consume and create widely and excessively. Develop your own good taste. Form strong opinions. That will sustain your writing practice better than any publishing credit will.