Editor’s Choice — Top 10:

The Best Way To Have the Guts To Tell a Story

Let’s have a look at our top 10 stories today

If you follow this method, you’d be as gutless as you ever were. But your writing would show that you have the guts to tell a great story.

“Fake it until you make it,” as they say about making money. But can this apply to writing and telling stories? Is it easy to fake you have incredible guts to tell a story?

In fact, everybody is already trying to do that. The world is full of writers trying to fake emotions in their stories — like they fake orgasms. Faking honesty will not work.

Another trick would be to have a couple of drinks before you write. Can this courage be translated into writing guts? This may or may not work depending on the kind of story you are going to write. But it is better than faking.

The best way to have the guts to write a story is a psychological trick. Answer this question: “Have you ever been afraid of taking off your clothes when you were alone in the room?”

When you write, imagine that you are alone. Imagine that you are not going to show it to anybody. And if you accidentally published it, nobody would read it. Feign that among millions of stories, videos, and articles published every day, your work is going to vanish.

Imagine yourself standing in a busy city street. In the traffic noise, you can say anything — you can scream even. Nobody will hear a word you say.

The author of The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood, presents similar advice, “The only way you can write the truth is if you assume what you write will never be read. Not by any other person, and not even by yourself at some later date. Otherwise, you start justifying yourself. You must see the writing as emerging like a long scroll of ink from the index finger of your right hand; you must see your left hand erasing it.”

People forget who said what — all the time. They ignore what happened to whom. They can easily confuse two writers or two stories. Do you know when Elizabeth Gilbert got divorced — and how many times? Do you know how many times Einstein got married — or the number of his extramarital affairs? Do you know why Glennon Doyle wrote her new book, The Untamed?

The famous people I mentioned above are at the center of the media spotlight. If you don’t know the answers, then thinking that people will read and remember your f**k-ups is another way of telling yourself that you are more important than others.

No. You are not as successful or brilliant a writer as Elizabeth Gilbert, and people definitely won’t remember you. However, they try to remember what President Obama says.

Write and connect on an emotional level. Don’t hide the details. Nobody is going to read anyway.

But suppose — against all odds — people start reading and remembering you. If and when that happens, you’d be as old as Stephen King — 73 — and you won’t care. Or you’d be as famous as Obama. You would be happy to share your personal stories because they could help someone. Or you would be as rich as JK Rowling, and you’d be more than willing to share a little more to earn a few more million bucks.

Go ahead and write your first disturbing story. Something similar to the story when the babysitter — Eula-Beulah — would throw 4-year-old Stephen King on the couch, drop her wool-skirted butt on his face, and let loose. “Pow!” she’d say in high glee¹.

Here is a list of our top 10 stories today — by writers who are trying to say what needs to be said:

10. A Woman Told Me I am A Good Writer — So I Strive To Be Great

Bambzi Ellis is a reader and writer. She is a student of life. Dreamer. Storyteller. She is creating a safe space for all the weirdos.

She is a fine writer. Her writing style is compact, appealing, thought-provoking, and extremely engaging. Do check her other work.

Who was the first person that told you you were a good writer?

And I don’t mean the ring around people say to get someone out of their faces: “Good job, this paper is nice!” I mean the bright spark that sparks the mind after reading something that unexpectedly resonates with you. I mean the straightening of one’s posture and a shocking twist of features across someone’s face when they read your work and say, “This is really good. You’re a really good writer, do you write other things?” Okay maybe not in that order but, you can imagine what I mean: What was the first thing you wrote that gave someone the ‘wow factor’? Who was the first one to push you?

9. I am an Island of Racist Confusion

Kevin Farran. Kamakura-based writer, lover of Great Danes, vintage cars, good red wine, bonsai, and the Bard.

He is a good writer. His writing style is detailed, elegant, full of suspense, and very engaging. It is a fiction piece. Do check his other work.

The morning was sharp, the stillness of the air was crystal. I gazed over the sleeping lake, its surface was still, lost in thought, the morning was held in a gasp of suspended time. The olive green blanket was deep and nourished a wealth of life and murky mystery, though this morning it was docile and contemplative.

8. The Fabulous Fifties

Bob Jasper is a poet-experimenter, prose junky, and flash fiction aficionado.

He is an excellent writer. His writing style is elegant, nostalgic, and very engaging. Do check his other work.

I grew up in the 50s. I entered kindergarten at the beginning of the decade and was in high school when it ended. Growing up in a small logging town in northeastern California, I was sheltered from most of what went on. The black and white newsreels we saw at the local theatre showed scenes of faraway places. We kids found them boring. They spoke of an adult world that we largely ignored.

7. 3 Simple Ways to Connect With Your Reader’s Emotions

Kyle Chastain wakes up every day to make his dreams come true. He is a husband and dad of 2. He only shares advice that he has lived.

He is an exquisite writer. His writing style is simple, honest, and very engaging. Do check his other work.

I know something about you. More than anything, you want your writing to grab onto your readers and not let them go until the very end.

You want your writing to be irresistible.

If you’re like most writers, you read others you admire with a twinge of envy. If only you could bottle up some of that magic for your writing, then maybe you could take off too. But try as you might, your writing feels flat and robotic. You have important things to say, but nobody seems to know you exist.

6. These Are the 5 Best Decisions I Made in My Life

Diana Bernardo is a travel addict writing about the wonders of the world. Visited 30+ countries, lived in 4.

She is an excellent writer. Her writing style is concise, beautiful, easy to understand, and extremely engaging. Do check her other work. I also wrote something like this about our fears of the future.

“You’re always one decision away from a totally different life” ~Mark Batterson

You have no way of knowing how a decision will impact your life. If you could foresee the future, it wouldn’t be a decision, it would be a choice without risk. But, at the very moment you make it, a decision is like gambling.

5. When Someone Throws Rocks At You, Don’t Shield Away.

Mila is a writer, marketing professional, role model, and just ultra-cool babe. “I’m fearless. I’m a writer. I don’t quit. I use my imagination to inspire others!”

She is an excellent writer. Her writing style is polished, easy to read, and remarkably engaging. Do check her other work.

How often have you been mistreated by others? How often have you been put down? How many times have you felt “discriminated” against?

I’ve been put down a lot.

Since I can remember I was surrounded by haters.

4. Four Quotes From The Girl With All The Gifts That Chilled Me To the Bone

Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) is trying to fill in the cracks on conflicting self-improvement advice and translating how these can work for a more diverse audience.

She is an amazing writer. Her writing style is simple, witty, and very engaging. Don’t forget to check her other work.

Have you ever had a “blind date” with a book? It was popular a while back with book shops, where books would be packaged in brown paper and twine with a simple genre description. The idea would be that shoppers and readers would pick a book up, not knowing exactly what they were getting into, like a blind date.

3. The Agony of Lurking Grief

Andrew Katz was born and raised in LA. “Now I live upstate. I hate snow. I write on healthcare, politics & history. Hobbies are woodworking & singing Xmas carols with nonsense lyrics.”

He is a skilled writer. His writing style is honest, sentimental, and very engaging. Do check his other work.

Pi had been going downhill for several weeks. The night before, he stopped eating.

“I think tomorrow’s the day,” Lisa said. The catch in her voice made her meaning unmistakable. I stood and held her.

2. If It Wasn’t For White Allies, I’d Have Lost All Hope

Rebecca Stevens A. writes about racism but feels there are so many other things she would like to write about instead. She says, “Help me dismantle racism so that I can get to that.”

She is an exceptional writer. Her writing style is smart, honest, easy to understand, and very engaging. Do check her other work.

I was in the 12th grade. My white sociology teacher handed me back my first test since I’d started his class. I rushed through the pages to see my score. There at the bottom of the last page was an “A”. It was the first time in my life I’d ever gotten an A. I was 17 years old, I beamed with pride. That was the first time in my life that a teacher made me feel I could be successful. I’d spent years in that school — in between racist children and insensitive, horrific teachers. The teachers in particular had written me off. I remember the headmaster saying to my Mum:

“Sorry, your daughter is too stupid, she isn’t going to make it in life”.

1. The Best Piece of Financial Advice My Dad Gave Me was in the Parking Lot That Sold Used Cars

At number one, it is Jessica Lynn. She is an entrepreneur and Writer. She cares about helping others learn to live a better, healthier life.

She is an extraordinary writer. Her writing style is elegant, charming, easy to read, and extremely engaging. Do check her other work.

I grew up across the street from a large used-car lot in rural PA, outside of Philadelphia.

We lived in a gorgeous four-story house made from solid stone built in the 19th century. It was a fortress. People took pictures of our house from the air.

This post is part of the Top 10 Series — you can meet 500+ top writers with these links:

1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8–9–10–11–12–13–14–15–16–17–18–19–20–21–22–Curated 23–24–25–26–27–28–29–30–31–32–33–34–35–36–37–38–39–40–41–42–43–44–45–46–47–48–49–50–51–52 –53–54–55–56–57–58–59–60–61–62–63–64–65–66–67–68–69–70–71–72–Curated 73– Curated 74–Curated 75–Curated 76–Curated 77–Curated 78–Curated 79–Curated 80–Curated 81–Curated 82–Curated 83–Curated 84–Curated 85–Curated 86– Curated 87 — 88 — Curated 89–90

Final Thoughts

If your story was selected in the Top 10, please share another story with a brief introduction and a short convincing review — in the comments. (Please write the review in the third person and start it with your name.)

I must have missed something today. I cannot read every story on Illumination and Illumination-Curated. I try — and fail daily — to read all of the great articles.

Please join our private Facebook group for Illumination writers to post your articles daily. Also, I invite you to become a writer for my publication — positive minds.

Iꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ꜰɪɴᴅ ᴀɴʏ ᴍɪsᴛᴀᴋᴇ, ᴛʏᴘᴏ, ᴏʀ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴇʀʀᴏʀ, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴘʀɪᴠᴀᴛᴇ ɴᴏᴛᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴄᴏʀʀᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ. Tʜᴀɴᴋs.

To be included as a top 10 writer read these curation guidelines carefully.

You can read my curated stories here.

References: 1. Stephen King in his book On Writing A Memoir of the Craft.