@June 2024, Wendy Scheuring, The Author’s Writer
I recently purchased a cute t-shirt that reads, “Books are mirrors of the soul.” That saying got me thinking. Are books mirrors of the writer’s soul? Yes, I believe they are. But how so? Writers write for a reason. Not merely just to write, but to discover and reveal. Their books become personal to them. For them, the meaning of their books is inherent. Yet, do readers capture that meaning or create one of their own?
What of the reading experience? Are books also mirrors of the reader’s soul? Yes, I think that is true too. Why does a story resonate with one reader while another one doesn’t, aside from the style of writing and personal preference? A story resonates when the words on the page prick the soul of the reader. Maybe the message of the book heals the reader. Maybe it makes the reader question or want to know more. Or maybe it causes the reader to escape and to dream. There are many other reasons why a reader chooses to keep reading. The underlying current, however, is that in some way the story touches and moves their soul. It provides them with something they need and want.
We are all spiritual beings. Books move with spirit beyond the words. The arrangement of words are thoughts and ideas, transmitters, per se, for which the reader discovers and appreciates the underlying meaning that goes beyond the words. Readers may not realize that they are doing this. Instead, they feel the story and feel as if they are a part of it. They want to know what is going to happen. They want to know how it is going to end. They visualize the characters, the setting, the place. They feel the dilemma, lemma, or conflict. They read with spirit, in an attempt to heal and feel. We simply cannot ignore that books are written by spiritual beings to be read by spiritual beings. There are some things that just cannot be replaced by the human spirit.
To teach and delight, saith Sir Philip Sydney. All books should do this, whether they are novels, short stories, corporate histories, business biographies, memoirs, self-help books, even technical books. We cannot divorce ourselves from our own spirit. And no one wants to read a book devoid of human experience. This is good to keep in mind, whether we are writing our own books or enlisting a ghostwriter to whom we can tell our story.
