Writer and Reader
An invitation for you and me
I have always loved to read
I always read everything, from signs and notices on the walls, to the ingredient lists on packaged food, to each and every book I put my hands on, both ‘good’ and ‘bad’.
I’m quite a bit more picky now then I was as a child.
Even when I am writing something personal, I am a reader as well as a writer. I can learn something valuable from my own words as well as other people’s words. Sometimes, something important just slips out.
Obviously, this is one big benefit of journaling.
In addition to that, I also learn about myself and the world through my creative writing, fiction, and poetry.
Poetry is purely emotional/spiritual work for me. I almost never show my poetry to anyone, it is far too personal and usually pretty cathartic. A lot of my creative writing has also been private. Some of it has been written and a lot of it has been imagined in my mind.
That is changing now. I am writing a story that is not only for me. I want to share it with the world.
I want to share it with you.
This is exciting and also a little scary.
After all, what if no one wants to read my words?
The idea of writing a story just for myself is a very limited idea. A story fully becomes a story when it is shared. It makes new stories possible. New stories are born of old stories.
This is literature, but not everyone belongs to it.
What about the people that don’t belong?
What happens to the stories that got lost?
How about the stories that never get told?
In a way, all creative storytelling has become more and more narrow and constricted. It is the very same story being told again and again, only the setting, costumes, props, and tone is changed.
I don’t want to tell that story.
I don’t want to live that story.
I want to tell the stories that got lost. I want to tell stories about people who don’t belong. I want to tell what hasn’t been told.
I want to tell the stories that need to be told.
Is this terribly ambitious?
Maybe.
It is a reflection of my life, and the lives of others I’ve witnessed and known.
It is the true passion of my heart.
An invitation for you and me
As I work on my novel and some other projects, I am going to start building a readership community. Initially, I was interested in creating a Foundship program and although I will do so down the line, I’m going to focus right now on building my reading group first. I do have my paid membership set up here, and although I would love for readers to join, for now I am going to share everything I write with everyone.
Very soon, I am going to start sending out surveys and other material to help me learn what my readers think and give you all an opportunity to contribute fun details to my stores. You can help out by participating in these and also sharing the stories you like with others!
One project I am going to launch soon is a readership drive that will include printed material that I can pass out at events, book stores, and other venues, including posting them in high traffic areas. They will include a QR code and a link to the site.
I am going to use some of my Shutterstock licensed images on these postcard-sized promotion pieces, with a short bit of story text on the back. You can think of it as a mini-zine. As I draft these, I will send you all samples so you can pick which ones have the most appeal.
This is a good example of the kind of project where I need to grow my paid membership program to help fund it.
I am offering a monthly, yearly, and foundership membership where you can pick the amount you contribute, so if you like what I am doing, please consider joining.
If you are not prepared to join as a paid member, you can still be part of the community by reading and commenting.
Another big help is to share the stories you like with other people. I am adding share buttons to each post this week.
Please visit my archive if you are looking for something new to read or share.
If you have a comment or idea to share with me and don’t want to comment on the page, please reach out!
Thanks for reading!