Yourself.
Yep, you read right. It’s you!
Your Story Instinct Is Powerful (and Probably Accurate)
Now, stop right there with the sputtered protestations that you don’t know enough, that you haven’t finished enough stories, that you don’t have enough experience to know good writing from bad. These disclaimers may be true, or they may not be. But they’re all beside the point.
The point is that every writer is his or her own best judge. Only you know what you’re trying to accomplish with a story. Only you know what your gut is telling you about a certain phrase or scene. Only you know what your artistic vision encompasses.
The advice of more experienced authors is wonderful because you can use it to polish our stories, but, in the end, the single most important thing you’ll ever gain from someone else’s advice is the ability to refine your own perceptions.
In an interview with Writer’s Digest (March/April 2010), novelist Elizabeth Berg said:
We are in such need of fresh voices, and I worry sometimes that emerging writers pay a little too much attention to what other people say. If I could say anything to aspiring writers, it’s to keep your own counsel, first and foremost. There’s nothing wrong with listening to what other people have to say…. [but] nothing matches the feeling you have when you get it right on the page, when you please yourself in that very intimate way—that’s always the best thing, no matter what happens.
Don’t Forget to Hone Your Story Instinct
What if your own advice stinks? What if your gut feeling is wrong?
Sometimes it will be wrong, no doubt about it. But your gut is smart. It’s right far more often than not. Because storytelling is an innate form of human communication, most people (even non-writers) have an instinctive sense of story. We just know what works and what doesn’t.
As a responsible writer, it’s your duty to bring your conscious brain up to speed with your unconscious by studying other writers (both their fiction and their writing how-to) to discover what jibes with your own creative vision and what doesn’t. In another Writer’s Digest interview (January 2011), thriller author Harlen Coben doesn’t mince words:
[I]f you don’t know if your stuff is working, really you’re in trouble, and nobody else is going to be able to help you. Yes, there are certain stages that you want to give it to a trusted friend and have them give you feedback, but not all the time. I am always my harshest critic. And I think you have to have that ability to see what you’re good at and what you’re bad at as a writer. Writing is one of the few activities where quantity will inevitably make quality. The more you write, the better you’re going to get at it.
Balance is always key. Embrace your unique artistic vision and forge ahead boldly. Listen to your gut, and trust your own advice. But keep a good-sized dose of humility in your back pocket, and always stay open to learning how to refine that inner mentor of yours.
Wordplayers, tell me your opinions! Do you trust your story instinct? Tell me in the comments!
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