Writers Must Dig Deep

 

I think our poster for today has a very good message, but it shouldn't stop there. As writers, we need to dig deeper than we sometimes do. Yes, we reach down to our soul and paint our word pictures, but do we only touch the surface? Or do we plunge to the depths and bring out all we can?

In my online critique  group, I have noted many who critique mentioning things like 'this is good, but you can go deeper' or 'you've merely scratched the surface' or 'I wanted to know more than what you gave me here.' 

I think that skimming the surface in our personal essays and memoirs is a fairly common problem. The bigger question is the why of it. You know what rises to the top like cream in an old milk bottle? Fear! Yep, that good old bit of fear of letting others see too much of who we are.

In the first place, when you decide to become a writer, you're agreeing to let people see who you are through what you write. If you only show the top layer, they aren't going to know the 'real you.' 

Those personal essays and memoirs that win awards were written by people willing to dig deep into their persona and share their inner thoughts and feelings with their readers. 

An editor who reads a submission might like what he/she sees at first glance, but upon further reading, he/she feels like maybe there's more to this topic than what shows here. The editor might ask the writer to dig a little deeper and resubmit. Then what happens?

The writer has to do a little soul-searching. Do they want to dig deeper/ Can they? Should they? Would it be too much exposure? The way to look at it first is to decide if you, the writer, truly want this piece to be published. Do you want others to read and gain from your words? If the answer to that is yes, then go for it. If you still have a concern about baring your deepest thoughts, perhaps it isn't time for this one right now. 

Don't despair. The day may very well come that you are ready to share every thought about the topic, and you'll rewrite the whole thing.

To dig deep, you much reach for every emotion connected with the topic. You know which ones, and you know how deep they are. Your next priority is to bring all that emotion to the surface and share it with your readers. You should strive to make them feel what you feel. It's not always an easy task. 

Thoughts like 'what will they think of me?' and 'will they judge me on the way I feel about this?' and 'am I ready to take some possible criticism?' might surface. 

If a personal essay or memoir piece isn't working, try to dig deeper. Be willing to share what you find with your readers. In the end, you'll both come out a little richer in personality, a little stronger, and a lot more satisfied.