When you’re strange

No one remembers your name

At least that’s what the song by The Doors tells us. But is that true? A little bit of strangeness can go a long way when you are a writer. Conventional thinking and writing doesn’t open doors in the same way as left-field words that get people thinking differently.

So, does that mean you need to be strange for the sake of it?

Absolutely not. There is enough contrived strangeness in the world dressed up as originality. What you want to do is to embrace the little quirks and differences you have. At school, and throughout working life, we are encouraged to hide our differences. We are told that conformity is the way.

It really isn’t.

The sooner you realise this the better.

You are who you are

That’s not going to change, no matter who you work for, where you go to school or who you write for. Anything that isn’t you isn’t worth reading. If you think that writing a best seller (or whatever else it is you want to produce) is about copying the most popular books of today then you are on to a loser.

You should write from the heart. This means opening the doors to your soul and letting other people see in. That takes guts, it feels vulnerable but it is so rewarding at the same time.

Open up. Tell the world your story. If there is enough heart and soul in it then people will want to read it.