by Sarah Sally Hamer

The word “sovereignty” has been floating around a lot lately, even in a writer’s symposium I attended recently. Why? Doesn’t it mean something about governments and borders? Why does it have anything to do with writing?

What Is it anyway?

Sovereignty is absolutely a legal term about political boundaries and who has control over areas of property. But it has a definition that is much more personal to each of us: We each have ultimate authority and power over our voice, our stories, our process, and how we choose to share them with the world.

Sovereignty is about calling the creative shots and making the decisions. YOU make the choice about what you write, when you write it, what it says, who it’s for, where it goes from there, and a myriad of other decisions, all of which you’re in charge of.

So, let’s talk about some of them:

1. What do you want to write? A 100,000-word novel? A memoir of an ancestor who fought in the American Revolution, an article for your favorite magazine, a journal entry? You get to decide. Of course, you’ll have specific reasons, no matter what the choice, but no one else has the power to make that choice for you.
2. When do you want to write? This one may have more factors involved, since you probably have other holds on your time, but you still can decide the day and time. And, you can even rearrange your schedule if you want to.
3. What words will you put on the paper? Happy ones? Sad ones? Big ones? Little ones? Part of the answer to this question will link with the next one…
4. Who are you writing for?

A good friend of mine is writing two different books for his eight-year-old granddaughter, one a cute talking-animal story, and the other a deeply-felt memoir she’ll probably not read until she is much older. So, of course, he will pick his words to be in line with her age and understanding for each of them. Recognizing and targeting your audience is a huge – and very necessary -- decision to make.

So, why is this important?

It’s really pretty simple. We live in a world where other people are willing to take our sovereignty away from us. Writing, and then publishing, a book fits right into that dynamic.

There are so many rules!

To fit into today’s paradigm (not that there hasn’t always been some sort of paradigm), a story has to be X-number of words long, with everything spelled right. We have to follow certain structures and plots. We even are required to fit into a box of what other people think is what we should be reading.

Is that why we’re actually writing? To fit into that box? I do realize that I’m lucky in that I have an income outside of writing, so I’m not living on what I can make. But that is still a choice.

I believe that writers are magic.

We each write for our own reasons. We tell stories about characters that don’t exist, creating situations that dance in our heads, finding great joy in the words that flow through our fingers onto a page. We can see the story unfolding in front of us with brilliant clarity and cathartic tears. We LOVE the magic.

Then, we show it to someone else and the reality of reviews and rejections and remorse fall on our heads. And we think something is wrong with us.

So. Why does sovereignty matter? It comes back to choices.

There are parts of the writing experience we have control over, and parts we don’t.

Things we do not have control over are what a publisher thinks, or a reader who had a bad hair day and gave you a one-star review. You don’t have control over Amazon or any of the other conglomerates who are the giant book-killers. Oh, I mean book-sellers.

You simply can’t change them.

But you also don’t have to give them your sovereignty. So, what do you have control over?

We have control over what we write.

We have control over what we don’t write.

We have control over what we do with our words.

We have control over how many words we write a day or a week or a month.

We have control over who we show our words to.

We have control over how we learn our craft.

We have control over classes we take, craft books we read, critique groups we’re in.

And, we have control over how we feel about writing. We’re not forced to write, unless we’ve made a decision to be.

How do you feel about writing?

Does it make you happy? Or do you write a book wondering if it will sell and you’ll make money?

I believe that a reader can tell the difference.

So. I suggest you sit down with yourself and answer the biggest, most important question of all: “Why do you write?”

Once you have that firmly in your mind, you’ll find that your decisions will change. Maybe you’ll stop forcing yourself to try to be creative. I can almost guarantee you that your writer’s block will disappear. Maybe you’ll stop trying to write to whatever the “plot of the day” is. I think you’ll find your voice and write something that may even change the writing industry. Maybe you’ll even sit down in front of your computer and find joy in your words. I think you might even find exactly what’s important in your life.

Will you make a lot of money? Maybe. Maybe not. But, unless money is the main reason you’re writing (and part of that soul-sucking publishing business), you may find that listening to your inner self, that creative, magical, imaginative human, is worth more than gold.

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About Sarah

Sarah (Sally) Hamer, B.S., MLA, is a lover of books, a teacher of writers, and a believer in a good story. Most of all, she is eternally fascinated by people and how they 'tick'. She’s passionate about helping people tell their own stories and has won awards at both local and national levels, including two Golden Heart finals.

A teacher of memoir, beginning and advanced creative fiction writing, and screenwriting at Louisiana State University in Shreveport for over twenty years, she also teaches online for Margie Lawson at www.margielawson.com and for the No Stress Writing Academy at https://nostresswriting.com.  Sally is a free-lance editor and book coach, with many of her students and clients becoming successful, award-winning authors.

You can find her at in**@***********al.org

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