Even the simplest writing tasks take a toll on me. For others, they can simply read the prompt and respond immediately. For me, I must brainstorm, plan out how I want to organize my thoughts into words, think of a catchy intro, be aware of the word limit, and come up with an inspirational ending that leaves my readers shook. As all this is occurring, I have yet to put one word on my page.
As a perfectionist who wants to produce my best work at first attempt, writing can be stressful for me. I have an enormous range of ideas that are ready to be heard, but I simply cannot put them to words because I fear my simple explanation of them are not enough to portray its sentiment. I want to use those big words you must use a dictionary to define because I believe it makes me sound “smarter.” All these harmful conceptions I have makes it hard for me to write.
With that being said, for this class, I hope to become a writer who’s able to write freely. I want to write without constraining rules or fear of making mistakes. To do this, I must change my mindset and habits. As much as I think writing is stressful, I enjoy spreading my ideas. Verbal conversation about ideas I get from reading texts or videos are exciting. There’s my first step.
Step One: View writing prompts as conversation starters with friends.