Writing: 

This was a hard one to teach my kids, because the desire to want to please and belong is partly innate. But living your life for others is neither fun nor healthy.

Writing is the same. For each person you worry about pleasing, deduct 1% in quality from your writing. Don’t worry. No one stays at 100%. These days, I usually deduct 5-10% right off the top. (It used to be much higher. Thank you, formulaic fiction industry.) So who am I worried about now? All sorts of folks. People I don’t want to offend. People I want to please. Internet trolls. The list changes depending on the topic.

I suppose that puts my recent writing projects at about 90% of the quality they could be. But I believe most people write at something around 40-50% quality. They’re concerned with saying what they think the world wants to hear. At having their characters do what’s proper and expected. At having their stories move in directions their audience approves of. 

So, this is my two cents for Sunday’s blog post: Stop doing that. Your friends, family, fans, clients, coworkers, etc. will love you more if you’re honest with them. Just as they would in life. Write what your brain and heart demand. Stand behind it. Know you can’t please everyone, nor should you try. 

Create your truth. 

Life:

You know you’ve married your soulmate when you see a sign like this, and he offers to go down to the boutique, buy a bikini, and wear it to the restaurant, just to challenge some BS prejudiced convention this funny rule.

Love you, babe.