“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” –Anne Frank
Writing has always been a creative outlet for me. I wrote my first story in second grade; I was assigned to write a short story, and that one assignment set off a spark within me. I had so many ideas, so I filled notebooks with them. I could write what I wanted. I dictated what would happen to the characters I created, and I was in control of telling their stories. I was inspired, and I have been ever since. Thankfully, my writing has gotten much better since then. I love how words can pour out of you, and nothing is better than being so inspired that your fingers race to type all of your mile-a-minute thoughts before one thought can escape you. Writing is absolutely exhilarating, but it is not without challenges. I've always enjoyed writing creatively until I become stuck in my writing and don't know where to take my story next. Usually this manifests in one of two ways: either I have the much-dreaded writer's block or I question every single word that I have written. These are, arguably, the two worst feelings for writers. I have several ways that I deal with these awful feelings, but my two most common solutions are workshopping my pieces with a group of people and distancing myself from my writing for a while.
Workshopping is a great tool for any kind of writing, but I have definitely had a hard time actually allowing my pieces to be workshopped. One of my issues with sharing my creative writing with others is how attached I become to the characters I create and how personal my writing is to me. My writing is me, and until fairly recently, it was hard for me to separate myself from my writing. However, I am glad that I did. The distance I place between myself and my writing allows me to address critiques I receive about my writing. I can then see my writing from an entirely new perspective to see imperfections. It's incredibly hard to do, and I'll admit it is very much an ongoing process, but it's important to look at your own writing from different angles to observe what is missing in your story. Does it need more background, character development, more showing and less telling? Stepping outside of your outlook as the author is powerful. That's why I love workshopping my pieces, both fiction and nonfiction, with other people––it forces me to address a reader's comments about my writing. While it's challenging to put yourself and your writing out there, the feedback you receive is the key to creating a better story and stronger writing.
When I feel lost creatively, it's helpful to take a break from writing. Sometimes it's a short break, and other times it's a lot longer. The important thing is that you eventually return to writing, and it doesn't necessarily have to be to that particular piece. I've been working on one specific poem for months and I genuinely want to have numerous drafts of this piece to show how I have evolved along with this piece. The poem is about my grandpa passing away and it is extremely emotional to work on this piece for long periods of time, but writing it has been therapeutic and I want to continue to edit it as I deal with my residual grief. However, it's not a poem that I can work on every single day because it's emotionally draining. By taking breaks from my writing, I know I will be able to approach my writing with a different and clearer perspective than when I've been sitting at a desk for an hour tearing apart the same sentence over and over.
I have also realized that by continuing to work on the same piece when I feel stuck creatively, I begin to doubt myself as a writer. Believe me, doubting yourself will get you nowhere creatively. You'll just end up frustrated and exhausted. Sylvia Plath stated it best when she wrote, “And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” So my fellow creative writers, I encourage you to heed my advice (some of it learned the hard way). As writers, we want to find exact, perfect words to express a certain feeling, and sometimes we are our own worst enemies by desiring perfection from our writing. But please, continue to write or return to your writing even if you think that it is absolute crap. Maybe there is some hidden gold in that piece or you'll learn an important lesson by writing a bunch of what you believe are sub-par pieces. No matter what, do not deny yourself the necessity that is writing because telling a writer not to write is akin to telling someone not to breathe; it's deadly.
