Perfectly Understandable

The best description I’ve been able to come up for the sort of thing I write now is entertaining philosophy. Writers are often asked what they write, which, when I was much younger, I used to answer, simply, fiction. This was before I understood there were all different kinds of fiction, and I didn’t yet know there was something called literary fiction. I wasn’t keen on the word literary, once I learned of it, as it seemed a little snooty, but for practical purposes I put it in my query letters.

Definitions are strange that way. I haven’t actually told anyone, my agent and editor included, that I write entertaining philosophy. After all, you won’t find an Entertaining Philosophy section in the bookstore, or on Amazon for that matter. My agent says I write inspiring books for writers, which is true. There is a section in the bookstore where books for writers are shelved, some inspiring, some practical. I know that section well now. Back when I wrote literary fiction, I avoided it. I didn’t want anyone’s advice.

I still don’t, truthfully, though this is a little ironic since a lot of what I write seems like advice. It’s not. Mostly all I say is, “You’re okay!” That’s the philosophy part. The entertainment I sneak in wherever I can. Or maybe it’s the philosophy I sneak in. This is why definitions are so troublesome. They always come up short. I once heard a writer, when asked what his book was about, answer, “Life.”

Honest, I suppose, but not a very good sales pitch. The part of me that recognizes the need for specificity has made peace with definitions as the best means of inviting someone into the conversation that is a book. After all, if someone asked me what I did, I’d say writer, even though that’s not who I am. Who I actually am is more than a writer or a father or a husband and or even a man.

I have to remember this at all times. Easy to start slapping labels and titles and definitions on everyone I meet. Put someone in a box and you think you understand them. You don’t. Or at least you won’t understand them through that label, the same as you won’t really understand a story until you’ve read it. Even then, you only really understand what it meant to you – which, fortunately, is all you need to know, is always perfectly understandable.

If you like the ideas and perspectives expressed here, feel free to contact me about individual coaching and group workshops.

Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write With Confidence.
You can find William at: williamkenower.com