writing as a form of redemption

December 9, 2010 9:42am CST
the potentials of creative writing go far beyond being a medium for expression. this may sound like a cliche, but it will do us good to constantly be reminded that the act of writing serves a more personal purpose than what we usually give it credit for. it's not just about inking down ideas on paper, otherwise the world is better off writing academically. i think that we write out of some need to discover or rediscover a part of us that is struggling to survive. i think that our ideas do not really begin from having thought about them; i think that their inception is rooted more to that other side of us that we expect to get realized but have ended up shredded into regret and frustrations, or petty happiness or short-lived joy. we write because unconsciously we want to put life into something we have initially wanted ourselves to succeed at but we have eventually failed; we make characters because it comforts us to see our emotions getting liberated into real-world names and flesh and action affecting other actions. it comforts us to see our mistakes, or what we cannot achieve, or what we can never be, put on its own fate and power, living finally changed and alive in pages, leaving us confused no more about where we have unexpectedly arrived in our own real life.
1 person likes this
6 responses
@peavey (16936)
• United States
9 Dec 10
You're talking about writing fiction, right? I can see that. I don't write fiction any more, but I have in the past and I lived through it. Some of my dreams and aspirations were lived out through the characters. It's a good thing, being able to express ourselves instead of living frustrated lives. I write nonfiction now and in a way, it works the same way. I am forever curious about many, many things, and writing about them allows me a mini education in them without the obligation of working in the field or putting all concepts into practice. There's a lot more to what we do than meets the eye.
10 Dec 10
yes, fiction. and I fully admire you being able to write nonfiction too, because that's an area I can never get my hands on right no matter how much I twist my brain trying. I find nonfiction too difficult. This I don't understand. Maybe it's the writing process; I feel like fiction and nonfiction require very different ways of being composed into their best. Although both call for "believability" and "curiosity", fiction writing relies much on your imagination, and nonfiction on objectiveness (think about journalism and the pyramid rules and how they have to technically sound the same as all other journalism in this planet). Fiction writing leaves me more room for invention and creativity; I have nothing against nonfiction, but I still find it too paralyzing. So it's really inspiring to hear that you can express yourself well in both of these areas. If I try harder, maybe I can too.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
10 Dec 10
I'm sure that you can if you work at it. Nonfiction writing is very creative in that you must take a subject and present it in such a way that captures the reader's attention, then you must develop the thought into a coherent "story" and end it with a summation that leads the reader to a conclusion. It takes creativity and concentration to do that; more some times than others, depending on the topic and how familiar you are with it.
@Mitraa (3184)
• India
10 Dec 10
My view on writing is, "It is the most noble work for a person with experience, feelings, goodness, heartedness and imagination (e, f, g, h & i)!" A good writer must possess all these qualities, required for a master-piece writing! Many of us know many things, which even a popular writer has not acquired, but we do not write them by habit, which could have made a number of good writers! In these days of Internet and technology, we are able to publish ourselves before the world in few minutes and the writer in us is more encouraged than earlier years! Thanks for this nice topic and have good writings!!
10 Dec 10
...and also freedom. I think that without it, a writer would always be haunted with some kind of fear to venture, and thus lose his/her opportunity to explore. We write mainly because we feel like we are in search of something more precious than what our eyes meet. We write not just out of some sense of obligation to be heard, but also out of some sense of obligation to know ourselves better. And yes! "these days of Internet and technology" enabled us "to publish ourselves before the world" much quicker and easier than before, but I think that these days have also somewhat disabled the quality which makes a masterpiece a masterpiece.
• Singapore
10 Dec 10
I do not write any fiction though. But when I express myself in my articles, which are really mini-diaries, I get to express my joys and frustrations from the writing. It helps me to put certain things into perspective, at the same time, it allows you to forgive yourself for not achieving what you may have yourself out to do or be. It allows you to forgive yourself and move on, leave the feelings behind and concentrate on doing or being better in the future.
10 Dec 10
We're in the same line here. Everytime I feel emotive, I never really get to feel all right again until I form what I feel into anything that speaks about the moment. In the process, I understand myself more than if I simply just laugh or sleep the feelings off. There is a bittersweet pleasure in the way writing affects how we see things.
• United States
10 Dec 10
This is so true, and for me, it applies to everything that I write. Writing is an act of creation and is very powerful. Lately, I've been using writing as a form of therapy. I've been going through a rough patch lately, based on a few issues that have boiled over time and has been affecting me. On my first session with my voice teacher two weeks ago, he said that I have anger issues. I took this to heart and realized that whatever this is has been eating me up. So I decided to write an email. I'm not sure if I'll be able to send this email, but it's tame and not in any way derogatory. I wrote to a specific person why I'm angry, how I think the organization could improve, and why I still love it even though I am indeed angry. Whatever it was that was eating me up is no longer inside of me. It's in my drafts in my yahoomail account. How it will affect the person I'll email, I wouldn't know, but I only hope, that for their sake, they hear me out and realize what's been going on.
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
11 Dec 10
Writing for me is a form of expression too. Specially here in mylot, i get to express my opinions freely. When a discussion relates to me , i readily join the discussion. It's as if a part of me is being revealed to everyone joining in the said discussion and there's a feeling of relief derived from it.
@angeline1 (144)
10 Dec 10
I joined here.I want to write and share my experiences and tips to other people.no one is perfect in writing a blog.sometimes I have nothing to do at home.I just want to write whatever I feel writing.I want to express my feelings and thoughts about the topic.I want to Know from others what their ideas.
10 Dec 10
that's good. I believe that the best writers started as tourists of freedom.