I’m lying down here thinking of what I can possibly write about. Why is it hard to continue writing about something I had previously written an outline for? Where did the motivation disappear to? Could this be the infamous writers' block I always heard about? Isn’t it too early for such?
Then it hit me!
Emotions, specifically pain is the main purpose for my writing. It has been one of the most effective ways of not just expressing how I feel but fearlessly too. When I am in that “mood” like I was few days ago, it brings out the fierce writing beast in me to write unapologetically. Afterwards, just like having a dosage or two of painkillers, the pain subsides and I feel relieved.
Because emotional pain from heart break, disappointments, betrayal, guilt and shame and the list goes on are all personal triggers to my writing, I fully accept therefore that I needn’t any other type of special motivation to write “better”. I just need to be in a state of pain but that is not to say that paradoxically, I couldn’t be motivated by other things except the aforementioned to write except that being in the pain state causes me to write better.
Which brings me to asking; what causes you to write well?
So far, many writers I have read their stories have often written about what should and should not motivate one to write; whether you do or do not need motivation to write and about writers’ block but what about what causes you to write well, to write better.
State of mind
Like I rightly mentioned before, pain brings out the best in my writing. For you it could be the reverse or it could be stress, anxiety, anger or depression etc. Whatever it is, try to figure out what works best for you, what causes your easy flow in writing naturally but unapologetically and make good use of it.
Do not procrastinate writing when the feeling comes because chances are you won’t remain in that state of mind for too long. In order to further buttress my point, I will tell a short story about the usefulness of my “anxious” state of mind which led me to writing fearlessly.
Around the hours of 4am in the morning, I could not sleep. I had grave insomnia which are usually my early symptoms of an expected menstrual cycle. I was feeling overly anxious too. Lots of thoughts both negative and positive flooded my mind and lots of ideas too. I thought to myself why don’t I make good use of this opportunity to write something. Something about one of these topic ideas I had in mind.
Special thanks to all the talented writers on medium some of which I follow and others that I don’t who have unintentionally taught me how to create these topics and follow through
I quickly sprung up from my restlessness, grabbed my pen and paper and began writing what came to mind. Now, just because I was in an anxious mode did not and does not necessitate to me writing something offensive or anything of sort. It just gave me the booster I needed to have written about 4 and half pages worth of story on a notebook instantly.
I also made a few outlines on two separate stories with the intention of writing further on them after I had slept and woken up.
You guessed right..that didn’t go as planned.
It ended up getting postponed to two days later which was yesterday yet I’m staring at these outlines utterly confused on what to include in them to turn it into a story.
All efforts to reinstate my mindset and attempt writing as naturally and extraordinarily as I could proved futile hence was unable to produce any stories.
Time
Although pain causes me to write better, it is not all the time one feels pain or experience that emotional state in order to feel like writing. Timing is also important. When I’m in a sad state and refuse to write about any idea that comes to mind immediately be it as early as 4am or as late as midnight, I lose momentum to write “better" when I feel much better. This may as well confirm the famous quote/advice that says “turn your pain into purpose”.
You could be an early riser who gets much inspiration to write in the early hours due to its calm and serenity, could be due to the high hormonal rush in the body or state of mind usually at those hours.
Or you could be like me who is more nocturnal and somewhat allows the busyness and stress of the day determine and stimulate my writing at the end of the day. Whatever works for you. Cease the moment!
What am I trying to say?
Sometimes you need to be uncomfortable in order to not just write but write well and it doesn’t always have to be ugly. Don’t wait until you are more rational/well placed, well organized and well…(fill in the gap) before seizing the opportunity to give your best write up.
Remember the reader’s well-being is dependent upon what you feed them so choose to feed them “well”.
What Makes You Write well?
I want to know..
