Friday, November 4, 2011

Don't Reveal Your Secrets

I can sense the irony immediately reading the title of this post and realizing that this is a blog on writing, where I am purposefully revealing all of my secrets. Let me explain.

I was talking with a friend tonight and bantering. I made some comment to which my friend said, "That was funny!" Meanwhile, I was just dumbfounded. I didn't tell a joke. I simply made a comment like I would in any normal situation.

All I could say was, "Of course it was. I wasn't trying to be funny."

Flash forward two hours and I'm standing in the shower thinking, why did I admit that?! I could have just kept my mouth shut and looked brilliant.

That's when I thought about the saying that "a magician never reveals his secrets." And I felt like the kind of guy who does a trick and immediately shouts out, "Here's how I did it!"

Sometimes the audience just needs the experience. They don't need to know what's going on behind the scenes. Sometimes you get really excited about all of the inner workings. If you made them, you are very proud of them. And you want to share that pride by telling people. But not everybody will have the same appreciation.

Keep a little mystery involved. Let people wonder about you. Make it be a special thing when you reveal some unknown fact about your stories or your process. It makes you look better and it can make your work more enjoyable.

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