If You Want to Write...

The latest in our weekly blog series about... hmm.... writing, maybe?

Therapeutic Writing

Write it out.

The sort-of sad part about developing yourself as a writer, is that nothing is sacred in your personal life. Or rather: nothing should be sacred. Are you dealing with depression? are your parents divorced? is your little sister demon-possessed? do you have a wonderful home life? is school your passion?

You need to write about it.

I'm not a great short story writer. Novels work better for me. But still I write short stories because the medium allows me to express something within five pages. My diary is another place to do this. Giving therapy-- or merely creative outlet-- on paper (or virtual, Microsoft Word paper) is so much easier than talking to people, and it can help you realize what you love or hate about a given situation.

This also makes for much better writing.

Jennifer Weiner is the highly successful women's fiction writer who writes constantly about divorce. She pokes fun at herself, knowing that this is a common theme because of her own parents' divorce. Her books, on the surface, seem like chicklit, but you can still cry whenever you read her because the pain that comes with a dysfunctional family relationship is still there, and you feel it as much as her protagonists do.

Keep it real, man. And I know the posts have been on vaguely depressing topics. We'll cheer up next week, or Sunday because... Robin Wasserman is interviewed!