"Don't forget--no one else sees the world the way you do, so no one else can tell the stories that you have to tell." -Charles de Lint
This quote has saved me a good number of times. Whenever I walk into a library or a Barnes and Noble (oh how I love the smell of Barnes and Noble!) I am tempted to smile and cry at the same time. Smile, because HELLO. I am surrounded by BOOKS. And as we all know, the only thing better than books is a sweet pork burrito from Cafe Rio. Or deep-fried cookie dough. Actually, those may or may not be better than books depending on how hungry I am.
Where was I?
Oh, yes. Crying.
I want to cry because LOOK AT ALL THE GAZILLIONS OF BOOKS AND HOW ON EARTH AM I EVER GOING TO WRITE SOMETHING THAT SOMEONE WANTS TO READ WITH ALL THESE BOOKS AND WONDERFUL AUTHORS SURROUNDING ME ON EVERY SHELF???
And then that quote by Charles de Lint (he's a writer) saves me. "No one can tell the stories that YOU have to tell." Why? Because completely different stories and completely different ways of telling them reside in each of us. Your story is completely unique because it is YOURS. There are an infinite number of ways you could tell a story but only YOU thought to string the ideas and characters that way to create a combination of words that turned into your very own story.
So do I want to cry when I walk into bookstores? Yes. It is hard not to. But I also remind myself that even with all the stories out there in the world, there is still one that does not exist.
It is mine. And it has yet to be spoken.
So go and tell it.
