No one tells you this, but it’s part of the craft.
If you’ll rather dodge misunderstandings and misquotations, you should consider taking a vacation from writing. After all, the "Book of Writing," Chapter 19, Verse 9, states clearly that the fear of being misunderstood is the beginning of a comedy called "Chronicles of Writer’s Block." Verse ten further explains that to avoid "sàlàyé," a land of "What on earth did you mean?" – do not write, because, my friend, you’ll be misunderstood.
As a writer, you'll likely discover that to excel in your craft, clarity is paramount. But, in your experience, you'll encounter words that, when combined with others, can lead to misinterpretation and make your work challenging to read. Your mentors will stress that the hallmark of a skilled writer is being easily understood, so, whenever your writing fosters misunderstanding, it's a sign that you're not good enough.
Look, you'll sometimes find it difficult to express exactly what you want in words. This is because you're the writer; you know what you want to achieve, but the reader who wasn't there when you were writing may find it difficult to understand. The reader will understand the words but may never understand your words, your intentions, and the feeling you wanted to communicate; the reader will only grasp whatever the clarity of your words communicated to them.
So, in the end—although your work was clear enough, and your readers thought they understand you—you were misunderstood.
Being misunderstood does not mean that your readers do not understand something; it's that they don't grasp exactly the points you're making. They fail to see what else you're emphasizing. They twist your innocent examples and fit them into their interpretations. So, someone may say, "This is what the author wrote," and, in all honesty, it is, but it isn't what you implied.
You’ll watch as they try to describe your personality. If you write extensively about love, you’re labelled a daydreamer; if you share heart-wrenching stories, they assume you never had success in love. They claim you’re not conservative because your characters aren’t, and they even suggest you’re a bit crazy because your characters seem to have lost a few screws in their heads.
Dear writer, you'll be misquoted, it's not okay, but it's part of the craft, and that's why you're what you are -- a Writer. You won't often like the words that your words are associated with. They'll be twisted and manipulated until they lose their essence. For example, you'll write about your insecurities and someone will see that you're insecure, or speak about the silence of a deceased person and the only thing someone will see is the depression of the deceased during his life.
You'll frequently doubt your badassery because the confusion will occasionally get the best of you. You'll hesitate to discuss a concept because you're certain people will highlight the ambiguous aspects, the parts you clarified so much that you feared were too plain. You'll want to explain why you didn't dot the "i"s and cross the "t"s, but it'll be too late; the bombshell will have dropped, and everywhere will have scattered.
If you choose this path, you must be prepared to face misinterpretation and misunderstanding. The clarity in your stories may readily reveal who you are not, and the meticulous details you incorporate may occasionally highlight your imperfections.
No one ever discovers the truth about you; that all you do is sit in your room all day, immersed in music and creating characters you may never get along with in reality.
My friend, while ambiguity exists in writing, your aim is to minimize it. However, this doesn't guarantee that you won't still encounter occasional misunderstandings.
But, you'll eventually discover beauty in being misunderstood. You'll become so accustomed to it that on certain days, you won't even consider the possibility when writing, and on other days, you'll intentionally rely on being misunderstood by those you'd rather not comprehend your work. You'll find solace in the existence of obscurity, and sometimes, it won't bother you at all.
On this side of the world, you'll get used to being misunderstood. You'll learn the art of choosing whether to unveil the mysteries behind your words or let them linger in the air.
You'll discover the power to both stir controversy and come to your defence through the mighty sword of words-- to offend and to defend-- but, truth be told, you'll often find yourself needing the former. Get ready, because you're a loaded gun with words as your bullets, fingers forever on the trigger, and you won't hesitate to fire right into their minds, precisely where your words should land—bam! There you go, dead they go.
And if your bullets encounter a bad landing, you're a well-equipped doctor – syringes, medicines, all sorts. If they are crushed, you resuscitate them. But sometimes, you don't let them draw that breath. You sit them on hot coals; they won't sit or stand. They'll simply be at your mercy, pleading as they read you – yes, you!
Dear writer, there are raging storms in your story, but you're the writer and the storm. Easy as you pick the right words, easy as you're being misunderstood, easy as you try to make them understand, easy as you pull that trigger. Easy, easy, dear writer.
I'm glad you were here. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed reading this. Show some love with claps, comments, and shares.
Ìfẹ́.❤️
