A funny thing about writing blogs: they tend to hit similar topics all around the same time. An article about tropes over here is followed by two articles discussing tropes someplace else. One blogger writes about controlling time in your narrative, and two more follow within a week or so.

I’m not saying they swipe from one another – though they might – but it’s a funny coincidence, and very noticeable when you follow as many blogs as I do. This past week or so, three separate bloggers hit on my favorite topic – the importance of centering yourself in your creative work.

If my word wasn’t enough, here are theirs:

In a post on her blog, Tiffany Yates Martin uses Monica Lewinsky as an example of someone who had to reclaim her story after she was defined by outside sources. We all know what happened and what people said and thought about her, and yet, in later life, Lewinsky fought back to tell the story from her perspective and to define herself on her own terms.

TYM relates this to our writing, in that our characters are also pushed around by forces outside their control. We call that backstory and plot and character development – all those things we don’t want to experience in the real world, but are critical to story.

But she also connects this to our creativity. How much and how often do we allow ourselves to be defined by an editor, agent, or publisher, or a peer critique group? Are we only as good as our last rejection or review or sales report? I know published authors often fret about writing in a new genre, afraid their readers won’t “accept” it.  Pfft.

TYM extends this to our social media personas and even our personal lives, but succinctly asks “Whose definition of who I am matters but my own?”

Whose view of my creative work matters more than mine, as its creator? I don’t mean that we believe it’s always perfect—but it always holds a foundational value even if it isn’t to everyone’s taste or standards.

And the benefits of being herself? “What it’s given me is a confidence and contentment inside my own skin that I lacked for much of my teens, twenties, thirties…even into my forties,” TYM says. “It’s given me agency and autonomy in my life, and a sense of self that, while not always unshakable (those inner demons still swarm out of their cave from time to time and undercut my confidence), is a much more solid foundation than it used to be. It has given me my voice as an artist—and I’m including my editing in that too, as much a creative art as any of the writing I do.”

Hear, hear.

Two other articles popped up around this time. In a post on Jane Friedman’s blog, Laura Stanfill urges writers to always trust their instincts when it comes time to choose a project. “Write for yourself,” she says. “Not for an agent who doesn’t know you exist (yet). Not for a publisher whose taste you can only guess from a distance. Not for your writing group because they’re writing a certain genre or style.”

And in a post on Writers in the Storm, Julie Glover identifies three things you should never let anyone – peer group, beta reader, editor, publisher, friend – mess with.

  • Your Voice. One of the greatest potential detriments to a writer’s voice is the peer critique group or the writing workshop. In addition to helping us hone craft, our peers may suggest alterations to voice or theme. Writers often find themselves writing to please the room, rather than themselves. And college workshops tend to produce writers who sound too similar to the half dozen favorite authors of the class advisor.
  • Your Process. Do you write every day or once a week? Do you outline or discovery write? Do you edit as you go? “The right process is whatever works for you,” Glover writes. “By all means, try out different ways of writing, but once you figure out your process, stick to it. If you know what works for you, own it and protect it.”
  • Your Theme. The central focus of your story is why you wrote it in the first place. Your readers may interpret it differently, but don’t let anyone tell you what your story means to you or convince you to alter it to something less personal.

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