Forum / Writers Needed

Darryl Price
Aug 14, 09:19pm

Hey, all you writers, don't write something and then keep it hidden from the rest of us. You wouldn't write it if you didn't want someone to read it. Let me be that someone. I love seeing what people come up with. I've always been fascinated with words, with sentences, with paragraphs and things made out of them. I consider writing to be a fine art and one worthy of sharing, learning from, and enjoying. Go ahead and put your two cents in. Don't worry about
what any others tell you writing is or isn't. That's only one opinion. Discover for yourself what makes it work for you. You are not here to please anyone with a particular style--just write what you want. Some will like it, some will not, but you will still be its one and only original author. And you will have made some art. If you are lucky, it will reach a few others who not only get it, but appreciate the effort and courage that went into posting it. You are communicating much more than words. Things like thoughts and feelings, like ideas and dreams--it's all good. All materials you can use. You have a voice. We can't hear what you are saying if you don't open your mouth. Show your teeth--if you want to, Writing is made up of your freedom of expression.

eamon byrne
Aug 16, 11:34am

Good call to action Darryl. I hear you. Winter down here and I'm coming out of hibernation.

Dianne McKnight-Warren
Aug 16, 12:55pm

Thanks Darryl. I've been doing other things but will get back to writing more soon.

Ann Bogle
Aug 16, 05:33pm

Thanks, Daryl. I have been suffering writer's block for a while now and do not know where to go with it. There's a Facebook group called Why Am I Not Writing? The only one who tends to write there is the founder of the group. The feeling of being blocked is difficult to describe, and I have taken it to therapy. I notice that when I tell someone I'm blocked, the person I tell seems not to notice what a big deal it is or could be for a person like me not to write. Posting what I write is an extension of writing. I'm not writing in secret either. The good news is I'm reading again, a lengthy book per week. For a long time I thought I had a reader's block that applied to books not to reading online. That seems to have eased and I am getting into reserving books at the library.

Tim G. Young
Aug 17, 05:55pm

Excellent post. I think we are here because we need it. We need to take advantage of a such a supportive opportunity. Write on.

Darryl Price
Aug 18, 03:47pm

Hey, Ann, I hear you. Writer's block is painful and frightening and nothing to be taken lightly. We've all experienced it. I think it comes from judging ourselves too harshly, comparing our work to others. The solution is different for each person, of course, probably, but healing seems to start with a kind of doing. Give yourself a little Trust to enjoy the process. It is fun. Hard work usually is to some degree. Take small steps or big steps, it doesn't really matter--what matters is to start taking steps again. Write about anything. Don't even choose a topic.. Just put a few words together and see where they happen to go. Follow them around for awhile. Let them take you on an adventure. Don't be afraid to play with your words either, substitute words and see what new meanings appear; your sentences can be like pick-up sticks. Play the game a couple of times. Get used to seeing a pathway in it. Go explore. And Good luck! Can't wait to hear your writer's voice again.

Ann Bogle
Aug 18, 06:21pm

Thanks, Darryl. I knew if I asked real writers in a forum like this one, I'd learn more than I learn chatting up non-real writers or non-creative writers how they view it. Your ideas are good ones. I forgot to mention that I dislike my word processor that stores everything in the cloud and for which I pay an annual subscription -- MS Office. I just have to keep trying to work with it. Thanks again and thanks for the invitation to share writing.

Dianne McKnight-Warren
Aug 18, 11:21pm

I think a good substitute for writing when I'm not writing is to read someone else's work, to spend enough time in it to comment, to make it my own for a while and share it with others.

Chris Okum
Aug 18, 11:42pm

Just wanted to second what others have said: if you don't feel that you have anything to say, then read, read, read, read, read, read, read until you do.

David Ackley
Aug 19, 05:06pm

Ann; Like most of us, I guess, much of what I think goes unwritten, and much of what I write never gets shown. But somewhere Walter Benjamin wrote, Let no thought go unwritten. Which is to say, writing helps you see which thoughts might be worth expressing. Perhaps we shouldn't try to edit our thoughts before they even hit the page. As Frank O'Connor says, Write any old thing, just get black on white. In your case, I'm sure, something good will eventually come of it.
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