“A closed mouth doesn’t get fed,” a teen said at the close of a recent NPR interview about students in Chicago having a voice regarding their school improvements.
I’d never heard the saying, but I figured it was a little too pithy for a high school student to come up with. I was right. Still, despite not being original, the quote perfectly summed up the young woman’s message about the importance of speaking up and asking for what you need, and finding the arena where you can do that.
Of course, that made me think about writing, and the importance of writing your truth. That’s where the power of your words lies—the power for self-discovery as well as the power to impact your readers.
Writing your truth could equate to that tell-all, true-confessions memoir. It could mean writing in support of a cause that gives you that sense of life-affirming purpose. It could mean writing a book—fiction or nonfiction—that helps people perceive a challenge or a group of people in a new way. Or maybe it’s that piece that helps people see you—and/or themselves—in a new way.
My writing coach clients’ truths range from an upcoming, rollicking memoir titled None of the Answers to the Guiding Emily series of novels, which revolve around a young woman who loses her sight. A historian is writing a book about how the country’s racism roots still impact us today. A financial planner’s book will redefine how we think of—and plan for—retirement. The list goes on and on.
Do these writers worry about what readers will like and want to read? Sure. We all do. In the end, however, the strength of their work lies in how their books authentically reflect what they care about.
However and whatever you write, writing your truth involves not just planting your flag, but waving it. That feeds you as a writer and gets us right back to where this post started. You speak through the words you write. And a closed mouth doesn’t get fed.
Time to feed yourself.
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