A while ago I hired a Writing Mentor to help me with the process of getting my book together and hopefully published one day. I met with him over a few weeks and proudly presented him with a copy of my work in progress. This had included almost 6 months of work and many hours of thought and slog at the keyboard. 

He returned my work during our scheduled meeting and I awaited his praise. The manuscript had almost doubled in weight due to his addition of ink scribbles and corrections. This I could handle as I am full aware of my lack of writing skills and command of English. What amazed me was his comment across the front page: ‘This has not connected with me and is unreadable’ 

It took him a full hour to explain his reasoning in slating my work and for us to agree to start from scratch with page one. Even the title has now been changed. The missing ingredient that had made it not work was my personal voice. The contribution of my heart and soul had been vacant and not included in the story at all except for a brief appearance on page 14 for two short paragraphs. 

Consider this: What if our lives were written out in a manuscript? Would others see your heart and soul or would they see your life as a book with no emotion and possibly unreadable?  A little lesson that I have learnt through this exercise: be more open, more honest and to risk my significance a bit more and others will maybe learn to appreciate me more and be able to connect with me in a more real and authentic manner.