Talk When You Have Something To Say

I've always been shy.  I never talked to anyone, nor did I speak up much.  I pretty much only talked if I was asked a direct question.  But that's not all the case with me anymore.  I talk all the time.  I start conversations and lead them and sometimes I totally take them over.  When did this change happen and why?

Well, the reason I was always quiet was that I was afraid.  I didn't know what people wanted to hear, what they cared about, or what they thought was interesting.  All I knew was that nothing I could say was worthwhile and that not talking would be a pretty good way of avoiding saying something stupid.

So I listened.  I listened to everybody.  And the more I listened, the more I learned.  I absorbed all of this stuff and I started processing it.  Some of it started making sense.  But some of it didn't make sense.  And when it didn't make sense, I asked them questions.  I found that there was a way to ask questions without being called stupid.  All I had to do was call myself stupid.  Then people were happy to explain it to help me out.

But even then, I wasn't talking.  I was just taking it all in.  I was nothing more than an audience.  Everybody had something to say.  They talked about their experiences and were giving advice based on those experiences.  I didn't say anything because I had nothing to say.  I didn't have many experiences.  And of the ones I did have, none of them were things that people didn't already know.

As I continued to live my life, I started gaining experiences.  I continued to listen to people, but I also started doing my own things.  I also continued to observe and to figure things out.  Eventually, I realized that I knew things that other people did not.  I was able to share things that were of benefit to others.  As it turns out, I had a great deal of things that were worth sharing.

In reality, maybe not everything I tell people is gold.  Some people may thoroughly not care about what I have to say, but that doesn't matter to me.  I believe that what I have to say matters.  That is why I say it.

If you are having trouble with your writing, whether it be creating or sharing, ask yourself why.  Is it because you don't think you have anything worth sharing?  If so, go and find something.  Get some experiences that you would like to share.  Or, if you like your fiction, make up something that you would find interesting.  And if you don't want to or can't go out on adventures, look inward.  What do you know?  What do you do every day and never question?  Why do you do it?  Why do you never question it?  Even if it's as simple as eating breakfast.  Go and share it.  Write about it.  Tell us, the world.

Everybody has something to say.  Even when I didn't talk, I had things to say.  I simply needed a good prodding to actually say it.  Consider this your prodding.  Write something.  Tell me something.  Even if you think I know it.  Even if you think I don't care.  Go and do it.  Then go and tell everybody else.  That's how it's done.  It's how we all do it.