6 Tips for Exposed Writing

“Don’t simply tell me that faith saves you, tell me how it almost failed you, too. Don’t tell me about love, speak of your passion. Don’t tell me you’re hurt, let me see your heart breaking. I don’t want to see your talent on the page, I want to see your blood. Dare to be naked before your readers. Because that is writing, and everything else is worthless crap.”

I just read these words over at Billy Coffee’s website, “What I Learned Today.” My own writing has expressed the need for a walk that is naked – exposing my heart to the world so that the world can know Who directs my heart.

My writing has not been as open. It was in the beginning, because I did not know the people that were visiting my site. I could share openly about my struggles in church, in family and in the community because they would never know. That has all changed. Friends and family regularly stop into my websites and even make comments. People in the community tell me about visiting my websites.

I have been found. The exposure caused me to close up and cover up just a little, but it is often that little that keeps us from reaching to great heights. It is time to shed a little covering and begin to write with naked boldness once again.

Tips for Naked Writing

1. Be willing to write the truth – even when it is about you. Names can be changed to protect you 😉 but pour it out without thinking.

2. Write what you learn and not what you think others should be getting from the situation. The more that you are willing to expose your heart then the more your readers will be willing to listen.

3. Choose to learn something while you write. If you are not learning then you are not changing or growing which means you are staying in the same place doing the same things and the readers WILL get bored.

4. Look for the right moment to present what you write. There is a time and a place for everything. Do not force an issue, even in print. Let it happen when it is supposed to happen. The only problem with blogs is that we can always write whatever we want to write and no one is there to tell us know. Touchy subjects must have a filter!

5. Write for your heart and not the eyes of others. Not every word, story or article that you create is publishing worthy. Sometimes the words pour out just so that you can work through the moment.

6. Let it sit awhile. Writing something that exposes your heart or emotions is tough – not only on you but on anyone connected with that moment. Let the words sit awhile. Words that are tended and allowed to marinate often develop into the greatest work.

The heart matters more than anything else. When a person presents the heart to be viewed by the world then the world will often respond with an enthusiasm that will ignite that heart and spur it on to even greater endeavors.

Are you writing naked? Take this moment to determine what you can do to expose your heart through the words that you are pouring out to the world.