Writing From The Heart

Do you feel self-conscious about your writing?  Do you worry what people will think of you?

You are not alone. I have always worried about revealing too much of my personal history or emotions in my writing and to be honest I still do sometimes.

WRITE LIKE NO ONE’S GOING TO READ IT.

But, what I have learned is that the only way to get over this fear is just to write, and pretend nobody’s ever going to read it. This is the fastest way I know to lose your writing inhibitions and let yourself experience the freedom and joy that writing from the heart can bring.

IMAGINE YOUR DEATH BED

It also helped me to imagine getting to my death-bed, and then looking back and realizing that I never did what I wanted with my life and that I let fear of what other people thought stop me.

You should try this too. Life is too short to spend it thinking about others. Yes, people do judge each other sometimes and you will be judged. But remember that judging often comes from jealousy so you have to learn to ignore this, even if it does hurt. Remember whose life this is and write from your heart.

WHAT IS WRITING FROM THE HEART?

If you were to look at my bookshelves, or examine the contents of my kindle you would see an eclectic mix. But what they all contain is the following:

1. GOOD WRITING

2. GOOD CHARACTERS

3. GOOD STORY

As long as these three elements coexist within the book I know I will enjoy it. But, there are some books on my shelves that mean more to me. Those books were written from the heart. They may not have been bestsellers, or commercially successful. In fact they may not have sold many copies at all.

That doesn’t matter to me. These are books I will never let go and the reason is that somehow those books touched my heart and resonated with me on a deeply personal level.

The entire story in these books may not have stayed in my memory. I have read too many books to remember too much detail but I retained the essence of these stories in my mind.

When I look at those particular books I am reminded of how the author helped me reach a personal understanding of a life question I had been struggling with.

I believe this is because the writers of those books were not just technically good writers, or story tellers, but because they were also able to dig deep within themselves and expose something close to their heart.  They expressed this consciously, or unconsciously through their writing.

It takes courage to expose ourselves like this. Writers can be vulnerable and it can be easier to focus on the nuts and bolts of story as many writers do.

But when we truly write from the heart, ignoring our  inhibitions, self-consciousness and fear, the results can truly resonate with the reader and they will remember you.

So, whether you write for publication, or for your own pleasure I would urge you to ignore thoughts of embarrassment and don’t worry what people think. I know it can be difficult but remember these two things:

1. Write Like No One Will Ever Read it.

2.  Imagine Dying Without Writing What You Truly Wanted To Write.

Working like this can bring about a fundamental change in all your writing and remember, you can choose whether to go public with your writing or not, so why not go ahead and write from your heart.

Very best wishes,

Grace

For more great writing tips and techniques click here.

For really useful writing exercises click here.