Bringing out your influences

One of the joys I find about blogging and writing is being able to take a subject in countless different directions. As we all know, writing is more often than not a solitary endeavor. Blogging (especially when no one comments) can sometimes feel as if you exist in a solitary, well, vacuum.
It often gives me pause. As a writer, regardless of the medium, I find that I'm always putting myself "out there." For example, in an article, it might be how I structure the lede, which can give a hint of the influences of my life. Everything that has happened in my life, converging on the page...hopefully in an orderly fashion.
There are many scenes in the book "Hope in the Unseen" by Ron Suskind which illustrates this beautifully. One details how Cedric, the product of an inner city upbringing, browses the Brown University bookstore and runs across a biography of Winston Churchill. He had no idea who Churchill was. Cedric's frame of reference is completely different from mine...and from yours. As he makes his way through his first year at Brown, Cedric brings his past, present and future along with him.
Blog post or magazine article, this is me--along with all my knowledge, as well as my baggage.
And writing seems less solitary after all.

Elizabeth King Humphrey is a certified Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach and freelance writer. She also blogs at CoastalCarolinaMoms.com and TheWriteElizabeth.com, where she contemplates finding creativity in everyday places. She wrote this post alone, with the background influences of her oldest child grumbling in the background. Can you tell?

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