Writing For Both Joy and Catharsis
Writing is a uniquely individual pursuit.
Each writer has her own pace, her own style, and her own way of telling her stories.
But the main reason most writers start to write is because of two reasons; either it provides her with great joy or for an opportunity for catharsis and release.
My own writing has been an example of both.
When I first began to write, it was about the fun of stringing pretty sentences together.
It was all about flowery language and lots of descriptive words.
It took me a while to learn the importance of getting to the point of the story, but once I did I was surprised by the detour my writing took.
My writing went from lots of description that dragged out too long, to a face-paced and deeply emotional plot line.
My plots were dark, too.
Intense.
And looking back at my first novel, I realize I had some real darkness inside my soul I was attempting to exorcise.
A funny thing happened, though.
When I tried to write a sequel, which I had fully planned to do, I just couldn’t get into it.
I hit roadblock after roadblock.
I couldn’t figure out why.
Then, just for fun, I began another story.
And it flowed out of me like a swift river.
No more struggling.
No more writer’s block.
My first novel took ten full years to come to fruition, but my second story, a Christmas novella, took a mere five months.
My first novel was dark, gritty and intense, full of serious subjects like abuse, loss, and victimization.
My novella, though, was much lighter.
It was still a thriller, but there was a lot more fun involved.
Sure, there was intrigue and a death-defying escape, but there was also some really fun sex scenes.
While my first book was all about catharsis and the release of pent-up emotion, for my second I was back to the joy.
Then, I changed things up again and went into writing short nonfiction personal development eBooks meant to help my coaching clients.
But no matter what I write, I’ve discovered that as long as I write what I NEED to – whether it’s to purge negativity or just for the pure joy of it – I’ve never had to deal with writer’s block again.
Have you been struggling with writer’s block?
Check out Jeannie’s eBook on the subject.
Jeannie’s romantic thrillers and other eBooks can be found here.
Jeannie also has a personal development podcast you can listen to for free: Create Your Empowered Self podcast
Or if you’re really struggling and would like more one-on-one assistance, Jeannie is also an NLP Certified Creative Empowerment Coach taking on new clients. Check out her coaching page for more info.
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