Writing and Feelings

Has there ever been a time when you were held back in your writing by how you felt? Your feelings have a great affect on your ability to write.

I remember numerous times in my life when I have "had to" write and been blocked from doing so because of how I felt. Many of those times it's been money worries that have gotten in the way.

When I went back to school at 39 with a wife and two young kids, I had a lot riding on both how I did in school and in getting money in. The main source of money for me at that time was freelance writing, and the stress of school and worries about money made it really hard to settle down and concentrate on writing.

To get myself going I used a little ritual that you might find of some use.

At night, when I sat down to write, and after a set of balance exercises to clear my mind, I would think about all the things that I had to be thankful for in my life. I'd sit in my chair with my eyes closed and go through a list of many things, for at least 10 minutes.

What I found that really made it effective was how real I made the exercise in terms of how I felt. If I just brushed over things in a detached manner, without amping up the emotion attached to the great things in my life that I had to be thanful for, well my emotional state didn't change much.

If I really paid attention and transported myself back to the event I was thankful for, or dug into the reasons why I was thankful for this or that person being in my life… my emotional state changed powerfully.

I discovered that what amped things up was a number of unique factors in my imagining. I noticed that if the memory was in color, that the feelings attached grew more intense. If the picture was in a particular area in front of me and a particular size, with amplification of the sounds associated with the memory, I'd experience feelings just as strong as the original event.

I concocted a set of imaginary dials to adjust things in both the pictires and the sounds. I could control my feelings just by manipulating the dials and changing aspects of my pictures and sounds.

Being in a state of thanks or gratitude makes writing simple for me. My experience is that, from that emotional state, my writing is better.

I recommend you try it out.