“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).
When in your life have you felt harassed and helpless? What harassed you and hunted you down, keep you from moving forward into peace, contentment, or all-around well-being? Was it fear, insecurity, self-doubt, imposter syndrome, inadequacy, alienation, just feeling too different to fit in, poverty, physical illness, grief, depression...? What was it?
What did you need to hear or receive from the people around you? From God? From yourself?
When in your life did you feel helpless? How did you find help or hope? What was the light that broke through your darkness? What is the light you are reaching for now?
While many first-time writers begin with wanting to tell their story, it’s not so much the story that is needed, but one’s connection to their own story that informs their sense of awareness for their own needs, desires, and motivations and how they are so much like another’s. The dots between themselves and others connect in an intimate and real way. This is what makes good writing.
Whether you are writing to bring help, direction, healing, or a moment of joy, relief, escape, or entertainment, compassion and empathy will allow you to write from the place of “I’ve been there too” without having to always emphatically say so. Your proof for having been through it is how you relay (minister/administer) that truth as you connect and reach out to others.
Jesus’s supernatural power to heal and release people for mental and spiritual oppression that kept them locked in dangerous and limiting cycles flowed out of His empathy and compassion. His acquaintance and intimacy with their grief was His superpower.
Writer, compassion and empathy are your superpowers to creating content that really resonates and connects with your readers.
A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by Emily P. Freeman of Hope*writers. She asked me what in my estimation makes an exceptional book. My answer below springs from this truth: compassion empowers us to act and respond on behalf of others. It may show up in our writing, our activism, or our giving of time, money, or resources. In our case here, we’re talking about writing.
Image courtesy of @triciamckenley
Posted @withregram • @hopewriters What proves a book to be exceptional?
Literary agent and editor @jevonbolden says it’s written by someone who is intuitively and empathetically connected with their surroundings and the space they take up in the world.
“Authenticity with ourselves is a necessary starting place when it comes to really being able to connect with others and write words that connect with others. When I say ‘exceptional,’ I do mean an author who has found that authenticity and has been able to capture it with an idea.”
Click the image below to watch my full interview with Hope*writers.
