Sometimes when you think you have the least inspiration is actually when you have the most. I started off staring at a blank page without a clear, profound thought in the world and yet, here I am, still writing. I have a feeling this will be either a short piece or a very long one that I work on for some time and keep adding to. It can't be hurting me to put my thoughts down, after all, no matter how random or pointless they may seem. Who knows, maybe something profound is just waiting to pop out! Right now I don't feel overly profound or in-depth but I'm at about a half page so who knows?
By the way, many people have asked where I get my ideas and how I write the way I do…this is it. I pretty much just sit down and start writing every single thought that comes into my head. Sometimes it comes out poetic, sometimes narrativistic. Sometimes it's just straight thoughts like this. I never know what will come out before-hand and that's what I like most about writing. I can always surprise myself with what's going on in my head subconsciously. Sometimes, I'll admit, I have to work a little bit in order to get things to flow and all that but there are other times it all goes for me like a story and my hand can hardly keep up with my thoughts. It's those instances that worry me most because I'm always afraid I'll lose something meaningful or great even though, in the end, I'm generally happy with the ideas I get in, even if I don't necessarily like how the piece is written. Endings are especially weak points for me. I can usually come up with good endings in poems but with essay-style writings, I am never happy. No surprise that my introductions and conclusions suck in school papers, huh? Somehow though, I always seem to get great grades and comments, even on papers that hardly took me an hour to write. Hopefully that will transition to college…
Seeing as my writing is so random, I ask you to follow along as best you can and ask questions if you get lost. Not sure why I decided to throw that in there, but it sounded good in my head at the time.
Anyways, seeing as it's 1:00 am on a (now) Tuesday, I leave you with this advice:
Start writing. It's very therapeutic and mind-clearing. Pick up a pen and notebook and write down everything that you think.
Do not edit anything until you are completely through writing. You may eliminate something that you want later. Leave it in there, as random as it may be, until the end.
Never give up on a piece, even if you aren't happy with it. You may find a better way to fix it later. I have three or four pieces sitting around that I'm still not happy with, knowing that I will someday get them to where they need to be to publish.
Do it for yourself. Sure, I love getting feedback and posting what I write for others to read but I always do what I want with it in the end. Take critiques…and throw them out if you want. Make sure your writing can always say "by: YOU", not "by: YOU (with additions from…)". Own your writing.
That's all I've got.
Goodnight.
9-15-2009
© 2007-2009 Jacob Tauer
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