Write from the Heart
Creative people who desire to write whether it is poems, blogs, songs, articles, etc. often struggle with where to begin. My first piece of advice would be…the time to write is NOW, and the place to start is from the heart.
The best writers reach deep into the well of the heart to move and touch the reader.
Words from the Well of the Heart.
When I first started writing I would worry about grammar rules, subject matter, the interest level of the reader on the subject matter. I would question myself at every point. I learned that writing from the heart always proved to be some of my best writing. Writing from the deep well of your heart will likely touch and move the reader. I am not advocating to ditch every rule or structure, but upon the first start it is best to put the pen to paper and write what you see, hear, feel, sense and smell. It will produce fresh, interesting and colorful words and thoughts that the reader or listener will enjoy. You can always edit or find others to edit your work, and adjust as needed. Always remember that there is an audience for your work. It may require time and effort to locate the audience, but somewhere in the world there are people waiting to hear what you have to say.
A tried and proven tip for me is to carve out a time whether it be once a week, an hour every day or whatever your schedule may allow. Do not let anything steal the time that you have set aside for writing! This will be difficult! It was the hardest thing for me to do when I began my journey. It is still hard today, but much easier than when I first started writing. I continued to pursue that time for my writing, and did not give up or give in to the thought that something else was more important at that particular time. 17 Writing Tips You Can Use Today [From Experts!] (self-publishingschool.com)
Carve out time to Write.
I decided to set aside each Friday to write, or at least a good portion of the day. I learned to say “no” to invitations that I would normally accept, block out my own obsessive- compulsive behaviors like cleaning, getting every crumb off my kitchen floor and cleaning up after Max, my large, black lab that I love. I became content with a dirty house.
Most people have a “go-to” chore or habit that they feel comfortable with when nothing else is working or going the way that had been planned. Do everything to avoid falling into the trap of succumbing to easy habits! This is not to say that “breaking away” after hours of unproductivity is a bad idea, but you must remain vigilant to protect your writing time. Stay the course and you will sense a certain satisfaction with your efforts even though they may not produce everything that you had hoped for.
What happens if you dedicate the time to writing, but the creative juices are blocked? I know firsthand what this feels like. One of my previous blogs titled Overcoming Writer’s Block addresses this malady and offers some excellent tips. How to Cure Writer’s Block: 23 Proven Ideas that Actually Work (studiobinder.com). While it can be very frustrating, take heart for every writer has struggled with this problem. The most important thing is to NOT give up, but continue to persevere through the dry times, stay the course and keep writing!
The page awaits your pen.
Finally, be encouraged. The page awaits the stroke of your pen. If you are reading this article, I am guessing that you are creative and there is something from the well of your heart that is waiting to gush forth and be poured onto the page. Maybe it is a book, maybe the poems from childhood that are hidden in a drawer, or maybe a #1 song that could go viral…you never know! Go ahead and take the plunge…the power of your words may surprise you.
I started this blog with the encouragement to write from the heart. The following poem is one example of writing from a deep place of the heart. Every person will experience the ‘shadows of sadness’ at some point in life. At every corner they will appear even amid the roar of laughter at the Christmas party or at a wedding, and all the places that you are expected to be happy. They always manifest at the most awkward times to unravel the questions of what might have been.
Amid the beams and shadows, we all walk the stairwell with cracks of the heart.
Shadows of Sadness
Lurking behind every memory they wait
To chase me down the corridor of pain
Taunting me like an unwanted guest,
At my door tapping, they chant my name.
One by one in darkness they glide
And crack the door of the wooden tomb,
Where dusty and shattered dreams die,
And thrust me in as midnight looms.
Captured by their clever disguise,
Unraveled I pause to hear their lore,
And watch from shattered pane a parade
Of memories of days that are no more.
Their stealth presence rivets my soul
While for some divine word I prayed.
Or must I climb the steps of struggle
And learn their presence to embrace?
And open the inward eye to see
That each passing face is marked
By beam and shadow…all ascending
The stairwell with cracks of the heart.