Every human has emotional baggage of some kind. Some of us keep it tidily arranged in one or two small cases and some of us are lucky to cram what we have into overflowing duffel bags. Writers, for whatever reason, tend to accumulate more than most. But never fear. In a post on Writers in the Storm, Jenny Hansen says the mess is where the magic happens.
Hansen defines “mess” as including a variety of emotional experiences, from abuse and trauma to complicated life changes, from coping mechanisms to moments of bravery. They are the times that make us unique. “Leaning into my mess and throwing open the doors of my own dark corners turned out to be my quickest hack to writing better stories,” Hansen says. “Bringing honesty and authenticity to my own life deepened my writing voice.”
There are many definitions of writing voice, but generally, the way you write is as unique as the way you speak to friends. “Your writing voice comes from your world view, your humor, your family, your friendships,” Hansen writes. “Your writing voice comes from the lessons you’ve learned and the wisdom those lessons brought you. In essence, your writing voice gets honed by understanding your mess.”
Using “your mess” in your writing allows you to find your story’s theme and you might discover that you return to that same theme in some form in every story you write. In Hansen’s case, the theme of shame pops up no matter the topic of her current work in progress. “It doesn’t seem to matter if the story is hilarious, sad, happy or sexy – shame will be lurking in the weeds somewhere,” she says.
While Hansen doesn’t always intend to explore shame in her stories, she wonders what would happen if she did write to her theme with intention instead of merely arriving at it. When she leaned into the idea of shame in her latest novel, her characters took stronger actions and greater risks, and the conflict dialed up accordingly.
Hansen suggests you consider the themes of your last several stories and try to drill down to find out what they have in common. Do you write with your theme intentionally or do you figure out what you’ve written after you’ve finished a first draft?
