Reflection # 3

When one write, the writer always thinks on what to write and how to write their story to grab the reader’s attention. From personally experience and this probably goes to many writers, it never crossed my mind that as a writer I should write for myself and not for the reader. Such a theory came from a brilliant writer named Roxana Robinson. In her essay, “If You Invent the Story, You’re the First to See How It Ends,” Robinson explains that as a writer she has many stories to tell and all she wants is the opportunity to discover them, ponder them, absorb them, and to finally write them down exactly right. Robinson went as far as to say that “you, the reader, play no part here, this is a private matter” (193). Meaning that the point of the reader is not to create your story, there viewpoints should not be in your story, for it is the writer story and not the reader. The job of a reader as Robinson stated is to determine the accomplishment of her work and if she succeeded at it. Robinson gave an amazing example source for an excellent fiction story, which never crossed my mind, is family. How the beauty and fury in family can make a rich literary source. That much of our greatest fiction comes from conflicts within it. Robinson went as far as to say that “these works reveal us to ourselves, and it seems to me that this is who we are: were people driven, damaged, and tortured; we’re people elated sustained and nourished, all by powerful, devastating, inescapable bonds within the family” (196). Such elegant words really made me think as a reader and inspired me to have more confidence within myself when I write, for without confidence I will not be able to write my story and accomplish my goal to write it down correctly. Furthermore if I did not succeed in my work to the fullest then I have failed myself and the audience and for any writer I’m sure that would be there worst nightmare.

Robinson, Roxana “If you Invent the Story, You’re the First to See How It Ends.”

Writers on Writing. 193, 196 Print.