Courageous, unsafe writing. That’s what the world needs.
That’s what Jeff Goins wrote. Write about something I am afraid to write about.
It’s not about crossing a crocodile-infested river or swimming with sharks.
It’s not about writing from the frontlines of a battle.
Courageous writing is writing about something I’m afraid of writing about, afraid of confessing.
What scares me? Hardly life-threatening.
Will anyone like my writing? Will I be any good at it? What if I stink and no one is courageous enough to tell me?
Writing is not about writing for others. It’s about writing for myself. Well, actually writing for an audience of two…God and me.
I’ve always had a desire to write. My earliest memory was when I joined the creative writing club during the sixth grade at Kahler Middle School in Dyer, Ind. Remember I tried to write a story about the London Blitz during World War II.
Why?
I don’t know. I was in a WWII phase at the time.
I eventually studied journalism at Indiana University, and had a career as a writer in the Air Force. I now have a job as a communications strategist where I’ll be writing. The haunting voice still whispers in my ear, “Will anyone like it? Will anyone read it?”
I need to be courageous enough to say that doesn’t matter. I write because doing is my way of giving thanks to God for this gift.
What do you need to be courageous about?