Bloody Writing
Writing doesn’t always come easy for me. In fact, writing can sometimes be a bloody, gut-spilling, heart-piercing, and throat-slicing experience. Starting any piece of writing alone can be one heck of a torture. Most of the time, it is very hard for me to think of things to write. I could spend hours, even days, just thinking of a perfect story, or a suitable subject for an essay. Thankfully, I have a lot of sources that I can exploit whenever I encounter such a problem.
For instance, TV shows, books, experiences, family and friends, and dreams all give me great ideas for writing. I look at TV shows and books I like and I try to find out just why I like them. I try to incorporate those elements in my writing. I also take a lot of ideas from my life experiences such as family problems, school trouble, and occasionally, love life (or lack thereof). Jokes and stories from my family and my friends are also full of good stuff for me to write about. I find that my dreams are also sources of some fascinating ideas. Since I love to sleep, I often have very vivid and interesting dreams. I’ve typed several of my dreams already but sadly, I haven’t finished any of them yet since I have a tendency to transform short stories into novels.
After coming up with an idea for writing, there are still some things that I just have to do in order for me to write effectively. For instance, if I absolutely have to write things like essays and reaction papers for school, I turn the TV on first, and then I look for a good show or movie to watch. I watch for about an hour before I attempt to write. If nothing is good on TV, I turn to our VCD and DVD collection. I just have to watch something interesting before I write. Watching gets my mind relaxed, and at the same time, it gives me a lot of inspiration (especially when I’m watching an anime with lots of gorgeous guys).
When it comes to the writing stage already, I need to either have the TV on, or have mp3s blaring from the computer speakers, or any member of my family present in the house. I cannot write when it is completely silent since I tend to doze off faster that way.
I also have to have something to drink or munch on before or during the writing process. I can’t write with an empty stomach.
I find that I write very effectively if I use a computer rather than pen and paper. I detest my handwriting and I find it a hassle to cross out, or use liquid paper every time I make a mistake. If it is absolutely necessary that whatever I’m writing should be handwritten, I type all my drafts first, and then handwrite the final paper afterwards.
When all my rituals are done, and when all my special writing conditions have been met, writing still doesn’t come easy for me. I still have a lot of hurdles to leap over or crawl under. This time, my greatest enemy is myself. I have to constantly fight against all my evil, anti-writing habits.
One of these habits is, as I’ve mentioned earlier, my tendency to start lots of stories and never finish them. I have a whole folder in my computer containing at least thirty, no, make that fifty, stories that are all incomplete. I never delete them. I just keep them stored in my hard drive in the hopes that I could someday continue them.
My other bad habits are, as I’ve also mentioned earlier, being unable to write that well handwritten, and having the tendency to take a long time to get motivated or inspired to write. Sometimes, it would take me until the very last minute before I finally start writing.
For me, my worst habit would have to be the fact that I have little confidence in my own work. I rarely like people reading whatever I write. From those fifty stories in my computer, only two have been read by people other than me, and my ate even read one of those behind my back. I guess the reason is I’m afraid of what other people would think. I’m afraid that they wouldn’t like what I write, and they would say awfully nasty things about it. Someday, I do hope to get over this fear. Until then, writing workshops would still be a nightmare for me.
Finally, when all the writing is done, and when the slit on my throat has dried up, I could honestly say that I feel a sense of pride in myself. Even if I encountered lots of trouble along the way, I was able to get through them and finish my work. Just the fact that I was able to accomplish something as complex as writing makes all those lost pints of blood well worth the effort.
Writing doesn’t always come easy for me. In fact, writing can sometimes be a bloody, gut-spilling, heart-piercing, and throat-slicing experience. Starting any piece of writing alone can be one heck of a torture. Most of the time, it is very hard for me to think of things to write. I could spend hours, even days, just thinking of a perfect story, or a suitable subject for an essay. Thankfully, I have a lot of sources that I can exploit whenever I encounter such a problem.
For instance, TV shows, books, experiences, family and friends, and dreams all give me great ideas for writing. I look at TV shows and books I like and I try to find out just why I like them. I try to incorporate those elements in my writing. I also take a lot of ideas from my life experiences such as family problems, school trouble, and occasionally, love life (or lack thereof). Jokes and stories from my family and my friends are also full of good stuff for me to write about. I find that my dreams are also sources of some fascinating ideas. Since I love to sleep, I often have very vivid and interesting dreams. I’ve typed several of my dreams already but sadly, I haven’t finished any of them yet since I have a tendency to transform short stories into novels.
After coming up with an idea for writing, there are still some things that I just have to do in order for me to write effectively. For instance, if I absolutely have to write things like essays and reaction papers for school, I turn the TV on first, and then I look for a good show or movie to watch. I watch for about an hour before I attempt to write. If nothing is good on TV, I turn to our VCD and DVD collection. I just have to watch something interesting before I write. Watching gets my mind relaxed, and at the same time, it gives me a lot of inspiration (especially when I’m watching an anime with lots of gorgeous guys).
When it comes to the writing stage already, I need to either have the TV on, or have mp3s blaring from the computer speakers, or any member of my family present in the house. I cannot write when it is completely silent since I tend to doze off faster that way.
I also have to have something to drink or munch on before or during the writing process. I can’t write with an empty stomach.
I find that I write very effectively if I use a computer rather than pen and paper. I detest my handwriting and I find it a hassle to cross out, or use liquid paper every time I make a mistake. If it is absolutely necessary that whatever I’m writing should be handwritten, I type all my drafts first, and then handwrite the final paper afterwards.
When all my rituals are done, and when all my special writing conditions have been met, writing still doesn’t come easy for me. I still have a lot of hurdles to leap over or crawl under. This time, my greatest enemy is myself. I have to constantly fight against all my evil, anti-writing habits.
One of these habits is, as I’ve mentioned earlier, my tendency to start lots of stories and never finish them. I have a whole folder in my computer containing at least thirty, no, make that fifty, stories that are all incomplete. I never delete them. I just keep them stored in my hard drive in the hopes that I could someday continue them.
My other bad habits are, as I’ve also mentioned earlier, being unable to write that well handwritten, and having the tendency to take a long time to get motivated or inspired to write. Sometimes, it would take me until the very last minute before I finally start writing.
For me, my worst habit would have to be the fact that I have little confidence in my own work. I rarely like people reading whatever I write. From those fifty stories in my computer, only two have been read by people other than me, and my ate even read one of those behind my back. I guess the reason is I’m afraid of what other people would think. I’m afraid that they wouldn’t like what I write, and they would say awfully nasty things about it. Someday, I do hope to get over this fear. Until then, writing workshops would still be a nightmare for me.
Finally, when all the writing is done, and when the slit on my throat has dried up, I could honestly say that I feel a sense of pride in myself. Even if I encountered lots of trouble along the way, I was able to get through them and finish my work. Just the fact that I was able to accomplish something as complex as writing makes all those lost pints of blood well worth the effort.
posted by ren-ka at 11:22 PM
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