Friday, February 26, 2016

Guest Post: Victoria Jackson

Hey, everyone! I'm off on a little adventure of my own today, so give a nice, warm welcome to Victoria Jackson from The Endless Oceans of my Mind.  She blogs about reading, writing, movies, and her two home countries, Canada and Australia. (In other words, she's totally awesome, so go check out her blog). 


Sharing your work

Sharing your work takes a lot of bravery. When you give your words to someone, you are pretty much literally giving them your hopes, your aspirations, the thing you dream about at night. I believe that every piece of writing someone does (or art, or design, or math equation, or whatever) has a piece of themselves in it. Giving that to someone puts you in a raw, vulnerable position and that's scary. That's terrifying, actually, especially if you give it to someone to critique because even though we always say that it's not personal, it really is. This is your child you are giving to someone, hoping they will tell you how you've raised them wrong. 


That takes courage. 

It's also a very beautiful thing, though. As writers, we recognise our words are powerful. We all know the power of propaganda or a movie or a novel. Words can lift someone up or tear them down, it all depends on how you use them. 

I always find it beautiful when someone shares their work with someone else, though. That writer is finding their courage and saying, you know what? My words are powerful on their own, and it's terrifying to give them to someone else. What if they don't like it? What if they don't understand it? But my words are so much more powerful in our hands as opposed to just mine. 

Isn't that just beautiful?
Ok, I usually avoid editing my pictures but I liked this one too
much to not post it. So in other words, this is not actually what the
beach looks like (but I like it anyways, so... :) )

Well, that was deeper than usual. Does it scare you to give your writing to someone else? 

6 comments:

  1. Not really, in fact, I love it when people take a look at my work. The problem is that I live in the middle of nowhere, and consequently have no connections with the larger writing community, which doesn't lend itself to getting criticism. Actually, that's a lie... I have no connections who have the time or desire to keep up with the intensity with which I pursue writing. What scares me is posting on a random blog that I found by complete accident...

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    Replies
    1. Well, you are a lucky duck, let me tell you. Yeah, I feel for you, I live in the middle of nowhere too. Good luck with finding someone who'll keep up with you :) And thanks for commenting!!!

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    2. Welcome to the blog! I'm way out in the boonies getting some much needed away time, so Victoria was kind enough to fill in for me. That's great that you write that much!

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  2. Thank you so much for having me, RM! I had a great time working with you :)

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  3. *shakes hand* Welcome to the blog! I always love having new people stop in :)

    It's really a shame more people don't shake hands anymore.

    Thanks for the comment!

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