Thursday, June 23, 2011

You're In Charge! Letting Your Creativity Free in Your Writing

Writer's block is a myth. It's true! Or at least I think it's true.

You are the one in charge of your own writing. The biggest constraint on writing should be not having enough time (aka too many other commitments) not staring at a blank page when you could be writing.

As long as you have scheduled time to write (even if you only have five minutes), you should be able to. Putting words onto paper is easy enough. Can you speak? Can you think? Then you can write. Whether you need to edit it four hundred times is another story.

Sometimes it's overwhelming, the sheer scope of being in control of a literary universe can be soul-crushing. What can happen next? What should happen next?

When you read a novel, you aren't usually thinking, "That wouldn't happen next. This would." You know why? Because a novel is what YOU make it to be. You are in charge.

Anything can happen next. It's up to you. Try to avoid the paralyzation of not feeling in control by making SOMETHING happen. Get it down.  Being in control doesn't have to be scary. It doesn't have to be overwhelming.

Don't think about it. Just write.

You had the vision for these characters. You made them exist. Anything that happens next is the right thing. No one else has any say in the matter. Sometimes you will have to adjust things. Sometimes someone else will suggest something that is a better fit. You can always edit. But YOU are the only person who can move past the "not writing" and just start writing.

Start now. Close this website. Close the browser. Open your word processing software and start.

You'll feel more accomplished and happier, thus leading yourself to a more creative place as well.

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