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| Photo credit: a.drian on Flickr |
“I think that is the gift that both reading and writing can give us; the gift of escaping the prison of ourselves.” –John Green
Although I couldn’t attend BEA (Book Expo America, for those
of you wondering what all the talk about BEA is about), I’ve been listening to
a lot of the live streamed and recorded events on the Book Expo America
website, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the BEA staff that’s made
those videos available online because the information they’ve recorded is pure
gold (so if you haven’t checked it out, I highly
recommend it. With italics).
I especially loved listening to the Author Breakfast that
featured a panel of Chris Colfer, John Green, Lois Lowry and Kadir Nelson,
because between the laughs and heart-wrenching stories, the authors shared some
really powerful advice. An example of this is the quote I started this post off
with. You see, after Green joked about the progression from his first novel, Looking for Alaska, in which he shared
quite a few traits with the main character to his most recent novel, The Fault in Our Stars, in which he
didn’t share any traits with his
protagonist, he said the quote that I included above, and I thought that he
pointed out something really special about writing.
Because yes, we often hear about writing what we know and
while I still think it’s useful to do so at times, what Green emphasizes is the
unique ability writing gives us—the ability to escape ourselves and step into
someone else’s life.
Writing gives us the chance to be and do whatever we
want—and there are no limitations.
This is why we need to take chances as writers to explore
new worlds and characters and ideas that are entirely different from our own
circumstances. This is why Mary Sueism is more than just the sign of an
undeveloped writer—it’s the sign of a writer who hasn’t yet discovered the true
gift that writing gives us. This is why, as writers, it is our job to set out
on uncharted territory and come out with a story that we might not have thought
ourselves capable of writing.
Because, as John Green points out, the gift is for more than
just writers—it’s a gift that we can share with our readers. A gift that can
really make our work special.
So I encourage you to take a risk and step outside the
prison of yourself. You might just return with your best writing experience
yet.
Now it’s your turn: What other gifts do writing and reading give us?
