Create something that expresses who you are

From what I’ve read about Judaism, it encourages people to question things and find creative outlets. That’s fantastic. There are groups out there that, well, let’s say their members are like walking, talking artificial intelligence. It makes you wonder if everyone on this planet actually has a soul. Some people really are like cardboard cutouts. You think there’s some depth to them, but no, talking about football and new drapes in their house – that’s all they are.

Have you ever created something that’s uniquely yours? A painting, an article, whatever it might be? Something that’s an expression of your inner world. In my case, I enjoy writing. It organizes my thoughts, among other things.

I’ve been told by strangers who don’t care about sugarcoating that several of my Kyiv Post articles are unique. Sure, the topic of international relations is one of the most popular out there these days, but the way I weave things together hits some people hard. Makes them think. And I love it.

I don’t want to copy what five hundred other people have already written about, or talked about at length. Repeating someone else’s words isn’t my idea of fun. I want uniqueness. Sure, when you write a document, an official letter, ad infinitum, that’s a different story. I’m talking about creative writing, not copy-paste, edit the words a bit, and voila, writing.

I even suspect that a famous columnist who, for obvious reasons shall remain nameless, copied one of my article ideas. How do I know? If you’re a writer, you can tell.

Hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

Having test readers and critics is great. If it’s your friend, or a family member, there’s always a risk they don’t want to upset you, but a stranger with no financial links to you doesn’t have any incentives to lie to you and be nice.

Indeed, my novel was destroyed a few times – I’d asked for it. Was it a pleasant feeling? Hell no, but it was necessary to grow. If you ask someone to be merciless, you’d better believe they are going to be merciless and brace for impact. But, at the end of the day, That person isn’t your enemy. Now, there’s a difference between pointing out the flaws, and personal attacks. If your so-called critic can’t distinguish between the two, ditch them and move on. For example, ”Your novel is unique but it needs a lot of work. Here’s all the inconsistencies I’ve found.” See? That’s alright. ”You suck, never write again, Jesus.” Now, that’s not what I call useful. I know which critic stays and which critic goes.

A good critic doesn’t blow smoke up your rear. A good critic tells you the unpleasant things you need to hear and points out the good stuff as well. Want to know what your friend, family member, or acquaintance really thinks about your book? Ask them to buy a copy. Money is the best truth serum there is.

Have a unique style. I can’t help but grin at the thought of a woman I’d come across in China who mispronounced unique as eunuch. I can see how, to someone with limited exposure to English, these two words sound similar. While having a unique writing style is great, I doubt having a eunuch writing style is much of a compliment.

If you’re learning English, you can deliberately insult people by mispronouncing words and claiming you had no idea you were saying a bad word. Who’s going to prove you’re lying? Then again, my experiences in China were such a mind-bend, I don’t look at the world the same way. I loved it but, boy oh boy, the whole thing felt like getting snatched to another dimension.

For all I know, she knew exactly what she was saying.

Are you easily offended?

Don’t go to China. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. They don’t practice political correctness there.

At all. Zero. Nichevo. Still, Jews have a good reputation there.”Smart, and good with money.” And Chinese people love their money. Cat statues with moving paws to attract money luck, even though the cat is actually Japanese (and, in case you didn’t know, neither China, nor the Koreas, are fans of Japan. Reason? Same old. Past imperialism). What might surprirse you even more is the Polish love affair with Japan. Poles love Japan, generally speaking. And it’s my understanding Chopin is really popular in Japan.

”What? Poland and Japan are close? Why?”

”Following a request by a Polish organization launched in 1919 in Vladivostok in the Russian Far East, the Japanese Red Cross Society conducted rescue and relief missions from 1920 to 1922 for a total of 765 Polish children who lost their families in the chaos in Siberia due to the 1917 Russian Revolution and an ensuing civil war.”   Yep. Polish history is crazy.