Just Write — But Know Your Style!

Not every writer is built to crank out a 300-page novel, and C.K. Sobey is here to tell you that’s a good thing. She reflects on how a pandemic-era clear-out of old journals revealed her true creative rhythm, and why chasing someone else’s format might be the thing holding your best work hostage.

Lately I’ve been thinking about what turns me on with regard to my creative mind. Being a writer means more about “pen to paper” rather than translating the creative talent to another type of outlet.  However, what the subject of this article is all about can speak with every form of creative endeavor.

It has taken me a while to realize the fact I am primarily a “flash” writer. A lot of emotion, storyline, and impact in 1-3 pages. There are many writers I know and know of that write novels (250-300 pages) or novellas (60-120 pages). Some people lean towards writing short stories (3-30 pages), while poets establish their own diverse categories.  There are many gifted, creative writers.

I could go on and on about the variety of gifts and styles all writers possess, but for this article, I believe knowing the genre you write for is quite important. This knowledge saves time searching for the idea and thrust of your story and where the market is. 
But what is even more important is knowing our natural form and style.

When the pandemic arrived in 2020, there were countless tragedies, and yet there were also innumerable gifts.  These would take time to recognize.  For me. I retired from two professions I had been involved with for 10 years. Hypnotherapy and facilitating an intuitive collage process called SoulCollage that was also therapeutic. 

I pulled out years of all my writing pages, journals, scraps, and group prompts I’d written. I was merciless. One space on my floor was a throwaway pile that didn’t stir me. Another area was for writing that had some promise and called for further investigation, and the third space on my floor was definite keepers!

During this time, I was also strengthening my writing muscles. I was doing more editing and then merging similar pages, which created a fuller picture of the intended story.

I remained quite black and white in most decisions; I grew my gray pile, and those took more time.  In fact, they became the essence of the next four books.

In spending serious time in my room, which I then claimed as my study, I noticed that I never wrote more than six pages on a story, but 1-3 pages was where I was comfortable. That is when I wrote my best work.

Everyone who writes and creates has some place they are content in their rhythm. Some creators have the added gift of doing more than one style fluidly. They “successfully bridged the gap” between shorter poetry and long, expansive novels. Edgar Allan Poe began his career as a poet. His one novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gorgen Pym of Nantucket, is a longer, suspenseful work. Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Emily Bronte, Sylvia Plath, and D.H. Lawrence, to name a few, could write both short and longer stories. Margaret Atwood is popular for her poetry (nearly two dozen books), and well-known novels, including The Handmaid’s Tale.

Currently I have been toying around for years with writing a mystery with undertones of magical realism. I think the fact that my left brain (logical) has wrapped itself around the specifics it thinks are more important than the story itself has temporarily shut me down. “How am I going to write 300 pages?” and many other assortments of questions that are not helpful or pertinent at this point for me. Has that ever happened to any writer before.

Yes, yes, and yes! It is part of redistributing our gift(s).
The challenges are part of the gifts. 
I am going to open up my right brain (creative) to a larger view of my story and just play with it again. Let’s see what my fingers, keyboard, and muse have been waiting to write.

Not all of us can write in many forms.

Write the best you can in your style and aim for a genre. Keep your eyes on your ball and watch for incoming ideas! Don’t get locked in, and remember the world is yours when you create!

Best to you, dear writers, wherever your gifts are called to.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  CK Sobey continues to live a life of curiosity. She considers herself a seeker, an explorer. Her many ventures in life confirm this. In her earlier years, she studied singing and theater.
She trained in Conflict Resolution and worked as a mediator in the San Diego Dispute Resolution Department. Also, working in the corporate world for almost thirty years has given her a large bevy of interesting stories that add spice to her stories.
     She later became a certified hypnotherapist, bringing a deeper understanding of the inner conscious mind to others.
     She facilitated groups in a variety of subjects and a practice called SoulCollage® for years.
     CK retired from her businesses in 2020 to spend more time writing and reimagining her life. She enjoys cooking, walking, dancing, photography, and exploring new ideas.
     For the past twenty-five+ years, she has lived in the Valley Forge area of Pennsylvania, doing her best to listen to what is calling her..
     CK’s  first book is a young children’s book entitled Henry the Turtle, published in 2015.     
     Her second book of poetic prose and photography, Musings, Woolgathering, & Ghosts which is also on Amazon Audible, B&N Audiobooks and several other audio outlets. She has received a Five Star Review in Reader Views. for Musings, Woolgathering, & Ghosts, published in 2021.
     She published her third book; A Collection of Tiny Stories, Diminutive Tales from the Tip of My Imagination in June 2022.
     Her newest book; Outpourings, Volume ll of Musings, Woolgathering, & Ghosts., is also available in Spanish, was published in 2023.
     Her writing has been featured in; The Reflectionary, Publishers Weekly, Readers Views/inside Scoop, Network (IWWG), The Midwest Review, 101 Words..  

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR

Website: www.innerharvesting.com
Substack: https://kassobey/substack
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/cksobey
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/cksobey

A COLLECTION OF TINY STORIES

From the author of Musings, Woolgatherings, & Ghosts comes a collection of short stories born out of moments of whimsy, mystery, and longing.

CK Sobey believes in the indefatigable power of imagination, and that inspiration comes from all around us. Each day can bring a revelation. Each experience can become a muse.

In A Collection of Tiny Stories, Sobey shares those revelations in the form of tiny tales and art, both magical and reflective. In the words of D. Donovan from the Midwest Book Review, “These short works don’t require linear reading. Readers can skip through the sections and will find them succinct, stand-alone pieces that delight no matter their arrangement or the wellsprings of their wonder.”

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