Every story is a portrayal of a part of life’s reality. Your story serves as an illustration, or perhaps composes several illustrations from your life’s experiences. So, before going any further, let’s inquire: “When you tell your story, what higher, uplifting, and moral truths do you want to convey? What’s behind your story, your motive for telling it?”
The attitudes and motives one chooses in relating their story through the published word often dictate how that story will come across and how it will be received. We here at Creative Team Publishing are absolutely convinced: Every story has a core nugget of truth behind it, negative or positive … what’s yours?
In initial communication, when the desire “to publish my story” is first conveyed to me, I often ask: “What the central, most important moral truth you want to reveal? What’s behind yourstory?”
Several years ago I dealt with an author who revealed that his central reason for wanting to write his story and ask Creative Team Publishing to publish it was negative in both content and approach. His story, as portrayed by him to me early on, was centered on desires for revenge; to inflict criticism, and “’seek his brand of justice’” for how he believed he had been mistreated and misrepresented by several of his family members over the years. His motives were degrading ones, not choosing desires for reconciliation, grace, forgiveness, redemption, or peace.
He and I discussed his background at length, and I told him words to the effect: “You would do much better if your attitude was not judgmental; rather, adopt an attitude of forgiveness for the wrongs you perceive others have done to you, owning your responsibility for what you have done to them.” I told him this because in the end, forgiveness and owning truth and personal responsibility always win over feelings of bitterness or hate.
He did not receive this concept well. His attitudes of negativity were deeply entrenched and he could not, or would not, seek a way out of his profound negativity. He wanted to hurt those who he perceived had hurt him, revealing a maxim with which we are familiar to some degree: “Hurt people hurt people.” But this doesn’t have to be a life-long grudge dealing with pain, misery, and walls of separation, regardless of the passage of time. Hurts can be forgiven and relationships can be restored; at least efforts can be made to “make things right.”
We did not publish his story by mutual agreement. I often tell interested writers that we don’t mind dealing with aspects of their life’s story that may include conflict and difficult circumstances … these are parts of real life for everyone. However, we ask each author to give us his or her central motive, or the true reason behind the telling of their story. If bitterness, greed, negativity, revenge, and non-redemptive criticisms compose the primary desires of the author, that author will probably need to seek another publisher. We hold to a high standard of truth, peace, hope, and “taking the higher road” for any writer whose story we publish. We want to review your story … and we want to strongly encourage building or restoring relationships as interwoven elements of what you write.
We invite you to peruse our Creative Team Publishing website—you are on it now. You will readily observe the kinds of books we publish and the content and attitudes of those people who wrote them. It takes little time to determine true motives and messages in the works you see.
So let’s ask, “What is your moral truth, your central message?” This nugget often rests on life lessons you’ve learned and want to teach. Why? Because these lessons have taught you real facts about real life and reveal higher callings; more often than not, you are better for them, not worse. Uplifting stories encourage uplifting results.
Additionally, a glance at our authors and their published works often reveals our authors’ systems of religious beliefs. Let’s ask: “Are you a person of faith?” If you are one who believes and trusts in God, your declarations of faith will often permeate your story, and likely should.
Embrace your story. In letting us review it, please tell us why you want to tell it and have it published. Conflict and struggle included, do grace, truth, love, hope, forgiveness, encouragement, and faith win in the end and inspire you, the writer, as well as your readers? Lofty moral truths should inspire you and those who read your works; in fact, they must.