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Ever since we were little baby writers, we were taught to write to please other people. There were our teachers, our parents, our friends, and later our partners, professors and employers. We wrote to get good grades not to mention love and social acceptance. And like so many habits and patterns in our lives, the conditioning of childhood has stuck to us, like gum to our shoe. Take, for example, the humble birthday card. When was the last time you wrote what you really thought on someone's birthday card? Do you write, "Best wishes for a fabulous year", or do you write what you're really thinking, "It's not fair. Why are you successful and beautiful and rich and have a gorgeous partner, while I'm broke and alone, trying to get my novel published?" Chances are you take option one. If not, chances are you don't have any friends. Either that or they are all broke and alone just like you. And while option one will guarantee you social acceptance, and even love in some cases, it slowly but surely strangles your creative spirit, albeit in teeny tiny little increments. Whenever we spend our time, and creative juices, on writing anything from meaningless fluff to people-pleasing platitudes, we are essentially stunting our own creative growth, and worse still we are denying our creative truth. Stand up right now and go and look in the nearest mirror. Go on, I'll still be here when you get back. Ok, now when you looked yourself in the eye in that mirror, could you honestly tell yourself that you write from your heart, for the pure joy and passion of it, to express your own personal truth, and in some way, big or small, communicate your view of the world? Can you truthfully say that you are in control of your creative destiny? If you can, then fabulous! Go forth and write with gusto. For the rest of us, it's time for a reality check. Are you ready to take charge of your creative destiny? Are you ready to take full responsibility for the direction of your writing career? And most importantly, are you ready to be true to yourself, and write truthfully from your own creative well? If you have just answered a resounding Yes! Yes! Yes! then try these five simple steps to set yourself firmly on the path to taking control of your own creative destiny. Step One: The Basics When you are writing, just write. Sound simple? Well, yes it does sound simple, but it is often the hardest thing of all to do. Try these three simple rules to just get you writing: 1. Capture first thoughts - your first thoughts are the purest. They are the ones that slip through before your inner critic or your "people pleaser" can reach out and grab them. Simply put pen to paper and write the very first thing that pops into your head. And then go to the next step... 2. Keep your pen moving - whatever happens, don't stop! Write the first thing that comes into your head, then the next and then the next. Do not stop writing under any circumstances, even if you think you've run out of things to say. If that happens, just write "Yuck, yuck, I'm stuck, stuck!" over and over until something else comes in. Then write that down and, you guessed it, keep the pen moving. Who cares if the phone rings, or your email icon is flashing or a truck just ran into your front room? Just keep writing! 3. Let yourself write garbage - I'll let you in on a little secret. No one is going to sneak up behind you and publish what you're writing without your permission! So feel free to write the worst junk in the universe. It doesn't matter what comes out, just write. Sorting it out is part of the editing process, and that is for another time. Step Two: Emotion Emotion is the universal human experience. Once you know how to communicate with your readers through the language of emotion, your writing will leap to a new level. And the simple secret to capturing your reader's emotions is to write from your own emotions. When you next sit down to write, begin your first sentence with "I feel..." then applying Step One, capture first thoughts, keep your pen moving and let yourself write anything, while at the same time, feeling the feeling that was the first thing that came to you. Once you actually feel that feeling, the images will just rise in your imagination and the words will just flow from your pen. Believe me, you'll really surprise yourself with what comes out! Step Three: Values What is important to you? Is it love? Family? Respect? Peace? Security? Control? Freedom? Whatever is important to you (and if, as a writer, you don't know what's important to you, it's about time you found out) zero in on it, and allow your writing and your characters to spring forth from this principle-centred place. Once you add the critical element of values to your writing, you will always write from a place of deeper truth, and this in turn will resonate with your readers who have similar values. Step Four: Dilemma Take your writing to a new level by challenging your characters and their values. Known more commonly as the moral dilemma, this powerful technique will unwittingly build your story for you. By placing your characters in difficult situations, where their values are challenged and they are forced to make an impossible choice, your character exposes his true self. Or is that you, as the writer who exposes his true self? original essay
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