How to Inspire?
After speaking to the Writer in Residence today about my story, I started to ask myself, "How to inspire others?"
I did ask her that question, as to how to inspire others with my writing. She laughed. It was a very broad question. She said, she could write an essay on that topic. Okay, no hard and fast rule. That's fine.
Based on the questions and comments of the Writer in Residence, I saw that my story did not inspire her. That's fine. Different people focus on different aspects of the same thing. I can be inspired just by looking at the clouds. But not everyone can get inspired with little stimulation. This is how I started my question.
I don't want to inspire by telling, for example, by explicitly writing something like the teachers are not the ones to teach but to learn from the students; or the one who inflicts pain is the one to learn compassion and love from his victims; etc. I think it's meaningless to just say it to others. I don't want to tell, because telling is not a good way for people to learn. Telling is not inspiring. I want to instill curiosity in others. I want to stimulate them to think. I want to plant a seed in their head, and have them nourish and nurture that seed into a tree, at which point the fruits will belong entirely to them, as well as the wisdom that comes with producing those fruits.
I deliberately withheld a lot of details and descriptions in my story. I gave the bare minimum. I wanted to steer the reader away from the details so that she could see the bigger message behind the story. Some people see the tree but not the forest. They're standing too close to the tree! Stand back!
The Writer in Residence asked, "So what's the message?" I immediately knew my story did not manage to inspire her. By having me tell the reader the message of my story is like having me spoon-feed it to them. My point is not to spoon-feed any message to my reader. I want them to come up with their own understanding and interpretation, at which point, the wisdom will be their own, not mine, and they can explain it entirely in their own words and in their own way.
I think I will find my way there eventually ~
I did ask her that question, as to how to inspire others with my writing. She laughed. It was a very broad question. She said, she could write an essay on that topic. Okay, no hard and fast rule. That's fine.
Based on the questions and comments of the Writer in Residence, I saw that my story did not inspire her. That's fine. Different people focus on different aspects of the same thing. I can be inspired just by looking at the clouds. But not everyone can get inspired with little stimulation. This is how I started my question.
I don't want to inspire by telling, for example, by explicitly writing something like the teachers are not the ones to teach but to learn from the students; or the one who inflicts pain is the one to learn compassion and love from his victims; etc. I think it's meaningless to just say it to others. I don't want to tell, because telling is not a good way for people to learn. Telling is not inspiring. I want to instill curiosity in others. I want to stimulate them to think. I want to plant a seed in their head, and have them nourish and nurture that seed into a tree, at which point the fruits will belong entirely to them, as well as the wisdom that comes with producing those fruits.
I deliberately withheld a lot of details and descriptions in my story. I gave the bare minimum. I wanted to steer the reader away from the details so that she could see the bigger message behind the story. Some people see the tree but not the forest. They're standing too close to the tree! Stand back!
The Writer in Residence asked, "So what's the message?" I immediately knew my story did not manage to inspire her. By having me tell the reader the message of my story is like having me spoon-feed it to them. My point is not to spoon-feed any message to my reader. I want them to come up with their own understanding and interpretation, at which point, the wisdom will be their own, not mine, and they can explain it entirely in their own words and in their own way.
I think I will find my way there eventually ~
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