How to Write

Sometimes I find myself completely empty of words. Like I don't know or understand my own language. I can't put thoughts and feelings into words and sometimes sounds become my only form of communication. The words get lost in a sea of letters and sounds in my mind, washing over a jagged cliff and landing in a heavy mist at the bottom, never to be seen again. Or like a train careening from a crumbling bridge and exploding at the bottom of a ravine. 

On the other hand, there are times when I have so much to say that the words just come freely, flying from my lips without a care in the world. My tongue becomes a waterfall from which springs of words flow and splash everywhere around me. I almost can't find enough words to express myself so I tend to even make up my own. These times I can talk for hours, leaving no time for silence.

Writing can be the same way. I can sit down and stare at a screen or at a blank piece of paper for yours and nothing happens. It's frustrating when I want so badly to express something anything in prose. I want to find my desire to write again, the passion that once overcame me. All I have to do is put my fingers to the keyboard or my hand around the pen and just let 'er fly. But it doesn't happen.

I have had days where I can't type fast enough and I don't even know what I'm writing about, I just know I need to get it all out. I'm articulate and communicative and my words are flowing beautifully. And it's times like this that I just never want to stop writing.

Those of us who write, whether for fun or a career, all have these moments. The writer's block or the good days that I call 'writer's flock'. There seems to be no in-between. I haven't found a person that can just sit down every day and write like it is a routine. I'm sure they exist but for the average person, that just doesn't seem possible. We have lives, stresses, appointments that occupy more of our time, thoughts, and energy for us to stop and be creative every day.

I think everyone would benefit from that habit though. Sitting down and writing every day. Even if you don't want to or you don't know what to write. I'm doing it right now. I just sat down at my computer and just started to type. Word vomit as most people call it, is a powerful tool. It doesn't have to be coherent or eloquent. It just needs to be words on paper. There can't be any fear or anything to hold you back. Just let 'er fly.

Skip the punctuation, ignore the spelling, don't mind the grammar. Close your eyes if you have to, free your mind and just let the creative juices flow. It's liberating to just relax and find what is rolling around in your head. It is kind of a way to read your own mind. You won't know what to write until after you start writing. And when you're done, if you like it, edit it and carry on with it. If you don't, scrap it and start the process again.

No matter what you write, fiction, curriculum, novels, self helps, this is a good way of training your brain, keeping you active, and keeping your creativity alive. They say 'if you don't use it, you lose it' and it really is true. Practice makes perfect.