by Brittany Bowman
Writing: A Daunting Task
I am a new fantasy writer and as creatives know, being new to a creative medium is exhilarating and daunting at the same time. There is so much pressure to learn your craft and hone your skills, while rustling up the cojones to share your work so you gain valuable feedback. The pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect at what we are seeking to do is so great that many people who seek to write only allow it to be a farfetched dream.
For those who have a vision and the gumption to go for their dreams do so at the mercy of criticism when they decide to stick their neck through the proverbial guillotine. It is enough to make any one shrink back into their shell and never speak a word on paper again.
A Personal, Introverted Medium
We sit for many hours staring at our screens by ourselves, listening to these imaginary characters talking to each other. If we didn’t have the excuse that we were writing a novel, we may just find ourselves in strait jackets. Our confidence ebbs and flows from ‘This stuff is pure genius!’ to ‘what kind of crap is this?’ Maybe it is only the newbies who feel this way. Shoot, maybe it is just me? I wouldn’t know because my introverted writer self rarely gets out to speak with other writers who could relate to me.
A Labor of Love
One thing I have found in the years of writing and never publishing a single piece is that it is a labor of love. I write for myself. I write to tell a story.
To be honest, I really write to get these damn characters out of my head. Try as I might to ignore them, they scream at me to tell their story. And while I write that story, I find myself spending endless hours making sure I tell it just right. If I do any less, I end up frustrated and abandon my work, telling those characters to go to hell.
Then I apologize and ask for those creative juices to start flowing again. Sometimes I can pick right up where I left off, other times it takes a little bit of elbow grease to get those wheels turning again.
Regardless of how hard it is, it always starts back up again.
An Escape
No matter what goes on in my life, good or bad, I always have my work to slink back to. Writing is my escape from one crazy world to the next. I can manipulate the world as I wish, create places I only dream about, and kill off a character who keeps yelling at me. I can go into my blanket fort, throw out a sign that says, “I’m done adulting today” and lose myself in my work.
At the end of the day, writing isn’t for the critics, the naysayers and the negative Nancy’s. It is for you. It is an outlet for your passion, and an escape from the craziness of real life. Whether you are good or not is irrelevant.
But, when you finally have the confidence to share what it is you have written in your times of angst and solitude, the world will be that much more enriched for it. There is always someone who can relate to what you have to say through your writing. Someone will appreciate you for being bold, for speaking out loud what you felt in your heart. If I can say anything to sum this whole rambling piece on, it is pour your heart out into your work and never hold back on the passion that beats inside of you.
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Brittany Bowman
Brittany Bowman is a sales rep by day, writer by night. She is a fur-baby mom to an adorable American Bulldog, a loving wife of 4 years, and a health and fitness enthusiast. Brittany loves to surf, snowboard, and help lift others up through positivity and encouragement to pursue their dreams. She has many projects going and none of them finished, because life is too short and Carpe Diem!