As writers we want the stories we write to be meaningful and resonate with our audience. I personally have struggled and continue struggling with this as I finish writing my book. I am betrayed by the thought of something might sound too juvenile for my audience or I’ll get hung up on the fact that there was a voice shift in sections of the book. I have found a pretty easy way of fighting those thoughts though.
Just write, don’t worry. All of that worrying is for your editor to do. (Yes edit a little before you send it off) If you are just starting out, like I was, you’re going to want to write something other people like. Stop worrying about other people, write for yourself. Whatever makes a story meaningful to you will make the same story meaningful to someone just like you.
I had a professor in college tell me something that rubbed me that wrong way then but now makes a lot more sense to me. “No idea is original.” When I first heard this I took offense, how could my ideas not be original? Then as I got older and started working on more I realized that I was borrowing things from shows and other authors that I liked. I was initially worried when I saw this but realized my professor was right and I trudged on.
The key is to not worry a lot about whether or not you’ll succeed. Success isn’t really measurable anyway. Write a story that is meaningful to you. That’s all you need to do as a writer. If you want to see your art take off you have to be it’s biggest fan, so sorry about what you want to read not Johnny fantasy sci-fi reader.
Grayson C. Beane 