Loosening Up

Photo by Aditya Saxena on Unsplash

Sometimes we get into writing ruts. There’s this unconscious sense that what we write needs to be a certain way, and we can’t break away without messing up. The prose gets stuffy; all the characters sound, look, and act the same as each other, and there’s no diversity.

My mom told me about an historical fiction she read and talked about how much she enjoyed the cast and went into detail about their individual personalities. She also talked about the amazing points the book made in a non-preachy way. She doesn’t usually talk about stories like that, so I could tell she really liked the story. It made me realize that I need to loosen up with my work. And maybe you do too.

It’s easy to get locked into a certain way of writing. There’s an unspoken—and maybe unrealized—fear to branch out because you might get it wrong. Honestly, though, one of the best things I ever wrote was a short story that I forced myself to not care if I copied someone else’s work. I let myself go; I didn’t worry. It turned out to be original, emotional, and one of my best pieces of work.

The past couple of weeks, I’ve been struggling to write a poem. I want to make it a carefree style full of slang, but I’m afraid to branch out to a looser, less formal tone than I’ve done with the past few works. I’m afraid to just have fun. I’m afraid to be me.

We need to be careful of unconsciously telling ourselves, “I can’t.” We need to remind ourselves that it’s okay to get it wrong. It’s okay to write about an 80-year-old man, or a 3-year-old girl. It’s okay to try your hand at writing something super eloquent, or super un-educated. It’s okay to do something that’s unfamiliar. It’s okay to not get it perfect the first time.

Pushing ourselves out of our comfortable place may make us better writers. It forces us to try something new. People read to find creativity. Stretch yourself and bring a fun mixture to your stories. Add in a totally different, unfamiliar type of character, plotline, or narrative voice. Tell yourself it’s okay to loosen up, to branch out. It’s okay to fail. Try something fresh. It might turn out great.

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” - T.S. Eliot

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Where might you be stuck in a writing pattern that could use something new and unusual? 

Where can you expand your work?

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P.S.

A fun note: a couple of hours after writing this post, I was flipping through a few emails from February 2018 and came across an e-newsletter from Daniel Schwabauer, or “Mr. S.”

He was talking about how he’d just finished six months of writing a not-very-good screenplay but was sure that he’d grown because of it. And then he wrote:

“Is there a project you’ve been putting off because it seems too difficult or unfamiliar? If so, maybe that challenge is just what you need in order to grow.

“Don’t be afraid to take risks in your writing. Even your failures can be worthwhile.” – Daniel Schwabauer

Thanks Mr. S. I needed that. :-)