Volume III / Issue 8 — 24 May 2022
What is your power? If you’re a writer, your power is your voice. Historically, most works of fiction have used the power struggle of “good vs. evil” as the primary axis for storytelling. It’s a formula that works. We all want good to “win” over evil—well, most of us do, anyway—but life isn’t black and white. Unfortunately, we often distill life down to easy-to-understand binaries, even though it’s rarely lived as an either-or proposition. Life, it seems, is lived mostly in grey.
This can be a potential problem for a writer, if we don’t buy into the good/evil story. How do we tell a story? How can we use our voice? What do we do with our power? Since the most widely-accepted use of power is binary, how do we get out of the either-or trap in our writing? For me, the short answer is: Focus on service.
Let your writing be in service of something.
When we, as writers, choose to focus on service, the entire spectrum of grey becomes available to us. People (or characters) can become more complex. Nobody is inherently evil or inherently good in a grey world. From this perspective, anything (and everything!) becomes possible.
What do I mean by service, though? Service is about your intention or approach to writing. It’s the energy behind what you write. Whether it’s a novel, a memoir, or a self-help book, it can be written in service of something. Nonfiction books seem obvious, but what about fiction?
The novel could serve to entertain… or to shed light on a current topic. A somewhat recent (2014) book by my dear friend, Katy Regnery, comes to mind. In The Vixen & the Vet, she shed light on an important subject (Afghanistan war veterans) through the vehicle of a steamy romance. While there was a villain (every good romance has one, at least), the story wasn’t binary by any means… and that’s what made it interesting. She wrote a novel in service of something greater, and in doing so, she used her writer’s voice in an empowered way.
As a publisher, it’s my privilege to provide a platform for other voices—to empower writers to share their gifts with the world. It’s one of the reasons I decided to create IOM. It’s also one of the reasons why we choose the books and authors we choose. In one way or another, their voices are powerful. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
All my best,
Martina
“Leadership is finding your voice, inspiring others to find their voice, empowering people and executing actions that get the world better.“
– Anyaele Sam Chiyson –
NEW Author
Talking about empowering voices… We recently signed new author, Randy Scobey, to IOM with a plan to release his memoir in 2023. Randy was featured in the award-winning documentaries Pray Away and For They Know Not What They Do. His story reveals the struggle of coming to terms with being a gay man of faith.
Read more about Randy, here.
Upcoming Release
Coming September 22, 2022 — In Rebirth, you will find real-life stores about what can happen when you make a choice and take a courageous leap. When life is calling, often we need only the space and the support to remember our way.
Let Kate Brenton inspire you in your own life as you read about how others listened and learned in order to make embodied changes in theirs — often with resounding success.
Sign up to be notified of the book’s release.
Check out the Rebirth podcast here, or on your favorite platform.
Most Recent Blog
15 May 2022—Happy full moon lunar eclipse earth angels. The full moon is a time to trust your intuition so you can strengthen your angelic connection. The full moon shines a guiding light on both your gifts and your pain, creating space.
Read more…
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