Awfully sorry I haven’t been on here in a while. I strive to add to my blog with a new post every two weeks; however, for otherwise ‘good’ reasons (work has been busy – and crucially – fruitful), my attention and energies have had to be focused elsewhere. But now, I’m back.
I’ve now finished all in-person signing events (and interviews for articles) for 2022. Again, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the organizers for their generous support in providing a time and venue for me to set up and interact with their book-loving clientele. These were wonderful experiences even when I had my eyes opened.
As anyone can imagine, whenever there is an opportunity to interact with the public, you are never quite prepared to respond to those handfuls of ‘quirky’ questions out of left field.
The most interesting question
Of all the head-scratching questions I couldn’t have anticipated (although, in hindsight, perhaps they ought to have been), was the following:
How did your perspective change throughout the writing process?
Innocuous at first, right? However, after it sank in, it did knock me back a step.
Now, I’m not one with a high proclivity for self-reflection or insight. Never have been. Simply doesn’t come naturally to me; I acknowledge its inherent value but no matter how I try to be introspective, I can’t help but feel I come up short of the mark. Somehow, I don’t seem to quite cut the mustard.
So, to be asked this face-to-face almost made me soil myself. Writers are supposed to be articulate – not prone to stuttering mono-syllabically; to me, the root of this question concerned itself with self-awareness. And where the hell do you start with that?!
Was I subject to any shifting external influences throughout the writing process? Did I ever stop to consider how others would react to what I was writing? Or, was I so engrossed in simply reducing my thoughts and experiences to paper that it was simply all about me (and to hell with everyone else)? Am I that selfish? Ignorant?
Don’t answer that.
Wondering how I’m seen when I’m myself (and how much more ‘myself’ can there be than when writing a book for anyone to read?!) does open oneself up to criticism.
So… how did you respond?
From a risk mitigation perspective, I do know that I combed through the entire text (multiple times) in search of any passages that were objectively (and even subjectively) offensive (without being in the service of advancing any argument), baseless or non-value adding. In that sense, my perspective did change from simply wanting to create content to being invested in ensuring the content was tight, cohesive and defensible. After all, the last thing I want/need is a lawsuit filed against me.
In a larger sense, I suppose the question made me realize that people, beyond immediate family/friends, might actually read the book. I get that that might seem obvious to anyone else but when you’re in the thick of it, it’s difficult to convey just how foreign that possibility seems, as paradoxical as it sounds. Perspective: broadened.
Yes, that’s right. I wrote a book without thinking anyone might read it. Vanity project?
Absolutely.
That said, I remain genuinely curious to hear people’s feedback and how it resonated with their personal experiences… because, again, I have no concept of how other people might feel. Genuinely.
So, over to you… Anyone want to share how their perspective changed as a result of reading The Wrinkly Ranch?
Please send in your thoughts to me at: [email protected] OR DM me on Instagram @wrinklyrancher
Looking forward to it! Thanks.
