Thursday, May 27, 2010

Kickstarting the Emotion of Writing

I blogged before about how I'd gotten out of the habit of the creative side of writing once I finished my first book because I was more focused on editing and getting it ready for submission. This had created a sort of writer's block for me. Not that I don't have any ideas of what I want to write, but more, the desire to sit down and focus on it.

I challenged myself to write about an emotional experience. Something that had affected me and would trigger some emotion and feeling. I wasn't sure what that experience would be, but it hit me like a blow to the gut, taking my breath away when I discovered the moment.

I was dropping my girls off with their father who would take them for the weekend. It has always been and still is a difficult thing for me, but after three years, I thought I had adjusted.

Once I started writing about the moment, the look on my daughters faces, the feelings I still felt, the feelings I thought they still felt, it all came rushing out in a blur of words. I couldn't stop them. The emotion was flowing and by the time I finished it, I was in tears. I re-read it, and wow, was I a mess.

But my little experiment reconnected me to my true love of writing. It started the wheel turning again, and I have vowed not to stop it again. And anytime I need a jump start, I know exactly what to do.

Happy Memorial Day weekend! Let us never forget those that fought to protect our freedom of speech.

No comments:

Post a Comment