Filling the Gaps

Anais Nin once wrote that "a writer's role is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." Writers hold a special place in the world. To many readers, they are the bearers of truth, enlightenment and inspiration. Readers count on writers to fill the gaps, to help them explain the unexplainable, to say the unsayable, to think the unthinkable. This is an incredible power that writers have and they need to be careful not to squander the opportunity. Look at your own writing and ask yourself if it fills any gaps for readers. Have you dared to go where others haven't? Are you tackling the tough questions life presents and are you giving readers something that completes their knowledge or experience in some meaningful way? No matter what topic you're writing about, no matter whether it's fiction, nonfiction or poetry, your mission should be to find the truth. Get to the heart of the matter, dig beneath the surface, and give readers something that can change how they experience the world. This is what Anais Nin is directing writers to do. Those of us who write carry a special burden, but when we get it right, it's a burden worth bearing because we have the privilege of impacting the world.