The Journey of Words
Words are the journey.
Sometimes they come out of nowhere, sometimes it feels like you’re out building a house and digging a ditch. It can be tiresome, it can be brutal, it’s usually a process of discovery—but it’s not boring. Ask any writer who writes for a living, and those who love words find that the words find their own journey. Sometimes, you might say, Did I write that? Just to make sure, you go back and do a plagiarism check to make sure that you didn’t write something beautiful that accidentally got stuck in a neural connection somewhere.
I’ve written things that I didn’t realize how perfect the sentence and thought was to completion until after the piece was done. It’s an amazing gift, an artistic process that usually starts almost in the womb. Writers write. Writers seem to always remember writing, even since a young child. Talk to any writer—they were probably spitting out realms of prose since kindergarten. By high school, classmates were gifting them to whip something up for their teen crushes.
For those that were not born with the need to write, there are some tricks to get moving, get the creative spark sparkling. It’s not rocket science.
Bring an Initial Thought
It doesn’t have to be a great big thought, just a small thought. The words are where the heart is. Think about the emotion behind the words—that’s the energy that will fuel the expansion of the direction that your words will flow. If there is no emotion, no mental connection to your words, even if you’re writing about something or someone you’ve never met, usually there is some kind of connection.
That is how ghostwriters can write a beautiful piece, or journalists can write with their whole heart about people and things they haven’t met directly. It’s called the human experience. We do see ourselves in each other. That’s the energy we need to write something meaningful.
Pick a Memory, We All Have Some
If you can’t relate to the subject matter, just get in the business of technology writing, or a manufacturer’s handbook. There is plenty of writing there for people who may not want to dig deep into emotional spaces.
If you love exploring the soul of the human condition, and you have the expanse of the occasional prose of Sir Walter Raleigh, “The Lie,” to the intellectual dissection of social justice of James Baldwin — then you have what it takes to feel and conceptualize the depth of words.
Pro Writing Tip:
Get inspired. Open a book. Read a book. Learn about the adventure of words, the power and meaning behind them. Do *not* choose your words carefully, or you’ll never get that first draft. But use your words wisely—for a message that can build up — not tear down.
