What are some of the greatest stories that writers struggle to tell? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.
Answer by Jeff Umbro, Podcast host and astrology expert, on Quora:
What are some of the greatest stories that writers struggle to tell? WARNING: This could get juicy.
I'll keep this concentrated to the guests I've had on my podcast, because that's what I know best, but I recommend you all subscribe to The Tell Show, Longform and Modern Love if you're looking for more of the same. They're all far better at their craft than I am and can get these stories out of authors without asking them directly.
So it seems, based on our previous guests, that the story most writers struggle with are books that they were never able to write. Sometimes this is because it was too personal, sometimes it wasn't a good fit for publishers, sometimes the author just didn't have enough in their tank to complete the project.
I don't want to rank any story over any other, because they're all extremely personal and moving, but some stories have resonated more with me than others. We've had guests discuss their experience coming out to their families, struggling with their religious beliefs, trying to reconcile writing about sex when the people closest to them will read the material, figuring out whether a story is their own to tell or not.
It seems a lot of our female guests have struggled to tell their own stories when they're in a world surrounded mostly by male decision makers. These are some of toughest for me to hear. We've spoken a lot about love and identity as well.
What makes all of these stories great is the fact that they're not isolated to writers. Most of these are universal issues that everyone has had to deal with in the past, and knowing this has helped me personally when it comes to my writing. I hope it's helped others as well.
At this risk of sounding too promotional, I have gone into a lot more detail on this subject at the Writers Who Don't Write website and newsletter than I can possibly cover here, so feel free to check out the show and subscribe to the newsletter.