Monday, April 16, 2012

Day 31: Writing What We Think

On this final day of posts about aiding the process, rather than the philosophy, of writing, I'm back to where it all begins. What we think about obsessively, or not, often serves as the foundation for a writing jaunt. And every thought is uniquely personal.

Yet, how many times have you stopped yourself from committing something to paper because someone might be offended by what you write? This is not about the constant snarking that goes on in the loathe-and-run posts or comments on the World Wide Web. It's easy to be negative about something without offering a solution when you don't have to face someone.

It is more difficult to be truthful in a story, poem, creative nonfiction article or personal essay if we fear the outcome. That is when writing tends to become stilted or formulaic.  Also, one of the advantages of writing for yourself before sharing it with the world is the freedom to say whatever you want to, in a way that may not be grammatical or could contain misspelled words.

Go ahead and be nice, if that is what drives you to write in the first place. Kindness isn't a weakness, any more than a critical view of events is a strength. Our greatest strength as writers is in speaking our truths as we view and feel them.




No comments:

Post a Comment