How Deep Are You Willing To Go?

The wisdom in this poster needs to be tempered a bit, I think. The first part is fine. The second is one I would not consider universal in writers. For many, it most certainly is sharing a part of the soul with the world--your readers--but not for all writers. 

The writers who do this are the ones who dig deep and are willing to bare their soul to others. A piece of writing by an author who shares his soul is going to resonate far better with the readers than one who writes only the surface thoughts. That often turns our to be what we call 'shallow writing.' 

Memoir writers are ones who must reach into the depths of their  souls and 'tell all' if they want to have a successful memoir story. They must write, not only what happened, but how they felt and how they reacted. When you decided to write a memoir, whether it be a full book or a 1500 word piece, you're agreeing to let the world look inside at your thoughts and feelings. If you don't include them, your memoir will be nothing but a report that a journalist might put in a newspaper. Remember Sgt. Joe Friday on that old tv show "Dragnet?" He was famous for the line he used over and over again--Just the facts, ma'am. or Just the facts. Memoir writers need to share more than the facts. The more they share, the greater the story will be.

Poets share parts of their souls with the world. A published poet will usually expose his/her passion, deep thoughts and more. Surface writing, or shallow writing, in poetry will seldom draw accolades. 

Every writer must decide if he/she is willing to bare their soul, all those often hidden thoughts and feelings, with the world of readers. Lots of things will go through your mind when you consider this question:

• Will people still like me when they know what is deep within me?
• Am I willing to share my deepest thoughts with others?
• Do I want to produce the best piece of writing possible?
• Am I satisfied with skimming the top and forgetting what is deeper?
• Will 'shallow writing' have a chance of being published?
• Will sharing a part of my soul help others?
• Will sharing a part of my soul hurt anyone?

When you reach into the depths of your soul and share parts of it with your readers, you're going to have a much stronger, appealing piece of writing. Once you're able to write like this, it will become a habit and you won't need to ask all those questions above.