There's No Point in Writing If...

There's no point in writing if:

- You don't put yourself into your words.
If you don't feel that you've released a part of your energy into your writing then why do it? It feels empty, vacant, and inhuman if you don't.

- You don't feel a sense of relief once you've finished.
Writing is therapeutic, even if that's not why you do it. If you do not feel a sense of inner peace once you've finished something, it is probably missing something.

- You're not attempting to innovate in some way.
I get that sometimes it's nice to allow yourself to be cliche just for practice or fun, but when it comes to the work that you're really serious about, I think that you should try to have your writing stand out in some way. Literary evolution is important.

- You don't challenge yourself.
There are a lot of people who try to push themselves within writing, but it seems to be more of a push of quantity and not quality. If you don't challenge yourself to actually step outside of your comfort zone and write about something unconventional or new, then your work will be dull.

- You refuse to grow.

- You're not imaginative.
There's no point in reading something if the writer's descriptions don't broaden your own imagination and pull you into a world that you couldn't have imagined on your own.

- You do not read.
Honestly, how can you expect to be a good writer if you're not well read? How do you expect to be good if you don't even know what's been written yet?

- You don't enjoy writing.

- You're not at least slightly embarrassed when showing your writing to someone else.
If you're not at least a little embarrassed when revealing your writing to someone (or the world), then you probably have not risked anything and therefore it will probably be boring and forgettable.

- You make some subjects off limits.
Writing, and art in general, should be open, and you should be free to explore whatever you want.

- You're not constantly trying to expand your vocabulary.

- You are writing for some other reason besides the pure love of writing, and the pure value of what you're writing.

- Your writing does not attempt at helping the reader grow, or at least at invoking some kind of emotional reaction.
Whether it's a reaction of tears, horror, laughter, or, most importantly, self revelation, writing is pointless if it is not emotional in some way.

- You write to impress anyone other than yourself.

That's all I can think of.

This is more so directed at myself than just writers in general. These are my most important principles when it comes to writing. I'm not a good writer, but I try to make my writing as pure, humble and full of integrity as possible. That's what matters to me.
January 2nd, 2016 at 07:21am