To Be or Not To Be

Free week here on 4F1H ….

First of all, I would like to again, say thanks to Jillian, who last week posted her final post. I hope it’ll be for a brief period and not for good. I will miss her!

The other topic I wanted to briefly mention was …. last Friday was the 21 June! You’ve got no clue? Well, for us “Down Under” it means the days are getting longer again from now on, and considering that, although beautiful days, our nights have been freezing cold, I’m looking forward to waking up to a day that has already started.

And last … I’m cheating today. I’m re-posting a blog I wrote a few years back for my publisher’s blog. We’re having my daughter’s party this weekend (a slumber party) and I’m a bit pressed for time …. Apologies. But it’s been a popular post, I hope you’ll like it as well!

Writer or Storyteller?

“To be or not to be “ ….. Now I’m not here to tell you that there’s a difference. Quite honestly, I wouldn’t dare. I’m not Wikipedia. But in my humble opinion, yes there is one. See, when people come up to me and ask whether I’m an writer I’m always tempted to tell them I’m a storyteller.
I’m not a writer. For the life of it, I cannot sit down and just write, may it be a story, blog or even a letter. I need the “right moment”, most of the time it’s the “right music” that makes me wonder off into a daydream – and bingo! I’ve thought about how the next scene for my storycould be. I don’t plot, I don’t develop characters, I just write down my words.

So, I’ve got the music, I’ve got my laptop and jot it down. Easy and straight forward. After a few months I’ve got a really nice story and I ask friends(even hubby!)for their opinion – luckily they’ve always liked it so far. Now comes the part writers do from the very beginning: my story now needs to be polished with “show not tell”, with the right POV and to bring a “flow” into the sentences. Then you send it off to a pro Editor for more polishing.

Now for me a writer has learnt these talents (or they even come naturally to them) – They can show the character’s heart is aching in a way that the reader is searching for their tissues to wipe a tear. They describe the scene so subtly you don’t notice the words, but you have the picture right in front of you. They have the hang of the POVs. They know where they want the story to go to and they know how to get there. Read a good book, not necessarily a bestseller, and concentrate on just those points and you see what I mean.

Writing  a book is a craft and should honestly not be underestimated. I know I did. So if you think you have a great story all your friends and critique partners loved, do yourself a favour and have it polished into that diamond that it deserves to be!

Tell me – are you a writer or storyteller?

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