Michelle Gant, the Editor of the Engaging Stories series of collaborative books that raise funds for charity, writes her last column for Folk Features!
“Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.”
Isaac Asimov
Last week I had an email that made me smile. It was a note from Kindle Direct Publishing to let me know that a royalty payment would be winging its way across soon.
The amount is small, but significant to me. Because it means that people are still buying our collaborative books (this time The Things I Wish I’d Known) which means they’re still raising money for charities. Which makes me smile indeed.
These books though, they didn’t start life because I had a grand vision of publishing our own books full of stories on life (far from it, to be honest, I was terrified of letting anyone read my words). Rather they happened because I knew that writing was the very best way that I could find to deal with scary and uncertain times. First when I became a new mum. And then again later, at the start of the pandemic when, like so many of us, I felt at a total loss.
It was about writing to get things out of my head, to process things, to put into words what I found hard to understand or say. And from there, and as I started to develop the idea of sharing stories first into a blog and then into books, it wasn’t just me that found succour through a pen or a keyboard. Far from it. So many of the lovely people who shared their words with me would tell me that they found it cathartic, they enjoyed it, they found it really helped, they felt better for writing it down. I loved that. I loved to hear that people found the same thing in writing that I did.
I so enjoy collaborating with people – especially people who don’t think it’s for them – to write and share stories, in our books, and more recently, in our online diary A Life in A Day. I can honestly say that I have thoroughly enjoyed every piece of writing that I have ever received in my email inbox. I get so excited when I see one land. What a privilege it is that people trust me with their words; I know how brave that is.
Whilst I will still be offering a platform and support for people to share their stories, and I am sure new books will be on the horizon before too long (watch this space as always…), this is my last column for Folk Features for now. I have been so pleased to partner with this fantastic platform and Emma – what a thing it is to have created a space for only positive news. The world needs more of this, for sure.
So, I will finish by saying if you’re feeling stuck or unsure, if you want to give space to thoughts and ideas, if you want to capture memories and experiences and keep them for posterity, why not write it down? Writing is for everyone – it’s just putting one word in front of another. And it doesn’t have to be perfect, you don’t have to get your grammar spot on, you don’t have to share it with anyone at all. Just write it down and let the words flow. You may find it useful. I always have, and I always will.
Thank you for reading my columns. And now I am off to write new stories about who knows what. How exciting is that?
Featured image of Michelle Gant and Riley – Hollie Godden Photography
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