The Agony of the Untold Story
Maya Angelou said: “There is no greater agony than bearing the untold story inside you.”
For me, the reason I write is because of that agony that Maya Angelou spoke of. That torment of “bearing the untold story” is so undeniable that I have no choice but to write. Otherwise I’d give up.
I can’t tell you the amount of times that those voices get in my writer head telling me: “This is terrible.” “I’m no good.” “No one will like this.” “I’m unworthy.” “Don’t quit your day job.” “This is a waste of time.”
And then there’s all the times that I’ve felt the sting of being told been told NO. The times my stories have been rejected. That is the reality for a writer. And if I lived in that reality I would have given up on writing years ago.
I believe that in order to continue to write there is probably something fueling most writers that squelches the thoughts of “this is terrible writing, I’m no good, who am I fooling.” There must be something greater than us, that is undeniable. That is as Maya Angelou said “agonizing.”
