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Focusing on Others — 16th Day of 30-Day Writing Challenge
Read These Writers
“What writers (on Medium) inspire you and why?”
It’s an interesting question. It’s a bit like the question, “Who are your heroes?” or “What movie always makes you cry?” or “What poem moves your soul?”
Is there something deeply wrong with me if I have no answer to any of those? Not because I find the choice difficult, but because there is no choice to be made. The answer is, “I have no ‘heroes.’ No writers — anywhere — truly ‘inspire’ me. No book or poem has ever moved me to tears. No one. Nothing. None.”
Don’t get me wrong: There are people I greatly respect and admire. There are writers I enjoy reading more often and more consistently than others. There are writers whose work can tame the chaos of my own thoughts and express them in ways that make me know that none of us are ever alone out here.
There are movies and music that have made me cry — but that’s rare. I have never, ever read a book that could do it, though I have read books that sucked me into their worlds, and I have felt a deep connection and saudade for places and people that don’t exist. I have read poems where the words fairly sang and danced, demanding that I read them aloud and reread them to understand the layers…
