by Jared Vineyard

Created on: January 05, 2007   Last Updated: May 14, 2007

You're writing a story that you want to be deep. You tap the faded letters on your keyboard to type words which you want to really say something. The voice of your story gets philosophical and the tap, tap, tap of your typing echoes off the white walls of your room. When you punch the last period on your keyboard, you take in a deep breath of accomplishment. The story is finished and it's time to share it with an audience.

"It's good," your best friend says with strong conviction, looking into your eyes without even blinking, but then moves quickly to another topic. It's good? That's it? This from the person who can talk for hours about each of the Harry Potter novels and all you get about the story you shed blood and tears over is "It's good"?
When you workshop the story you wish someone - anyone - would use the word good. The room is full of amateur writers. "It's boring." "Trite." "Forced." What do they know; their stories aren't so incredible. They just don't get it. But then the leader of the workshop, the one published and supposedly good writer in the room, says, "Oh, they get it. You beat them over the head with it." You're beyond being offended. You're crushed. You want to curl into a little ball and hide in the corner. Where did you go wrong?
Writing a story is simply about telling a good story. Getting caught up in what the story is about, many writers forget what their story is actually about. You've read these stories. The narrator goes on and on while you nod off a couple times, trying desperately to make it through the read. The only sparks of life in the story are when the narrative voice shuts up a bit and the action occurs.
Every once in a while, a writer has to be told to shut up and just write a story.

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