THREE FACES OF THE WRITER

THREE FACES OF THE WRITER I attended a conference recently where a short story instructor elaborated about the three sides of a writer. I like to call them faces. The concept he painted was not new to me, but I marveled at how it remained hidden in the back of my mind, an assumption, like it wasnt worth remembering. In reality, understanding our three faces is phenomenally important. Astounding, even. THE AUTHOR This personality is the source of all ideas. Here is where you contrive the plot and choose your characters. This side of you involves ingenuity. THE WRITER This face is the crafter. Here is the side of you that defines the words, matches nouns to verbs, carefully chooses adverbs (if any). This is the most easily taught of the three talents. You can be schooled on how to put words together correctly. THE STORYTELLER Here is the magic. This is what most people call voice. So many people can be authors and writers, but not everyone is a storyteller. This face isnt easily taught, since its almost an inherent trait. Its this side of you that can show and not tell, translating enthusiasm into words. Th storyteller isnt in all writers and authors. There may be words on paper, in order, written properly, with a beginning, middle and ending, but without the storytellers touch, the tale falls flat. How do you master all three? Read voraciously, watching for all three faces of the writer you read. Make yourself learn the writer side, grasping the word building until its second nature. Listen to storytellers. Close your eyes and hear audiobooks, movies, and plays. Absorb the wordplay, recognizing how the writer avoids telling. Then try to be uninhibited in your writing. Dont worry about what your mother will think about the sex in Chapter 14. Forget about how your cousins may misinterpret the twist in Chapter 23. Sling all the crap on the page and dare to be alive. Story creation is a careful balance of knowing the rules, thinking creativity, and then daring to explode onto the page without concern for the ramifications.