All those things I thought I knew about writing, were wrong

Writing is about freedom of speech, so it should be in a state of freedom, no matter what kind of writings. Do not focus on the outline, outline is just a roadmap. Jailed. Outline is just a tool when we lose our track of mind.

Do not worry for the reader, worry for the story. It’s all about point of view, doesn’t matter where we start. Writing is hard criticism. Works best if we focus on imagination. Start with a thought of not thinking of writing, not to focus on what other people would think, rather, focus on the state of mind, focus on the freedom of thinking, not freedom of writing. Writing comes after thinking and imagination; free the imagination, free the thoughts.

Write anything we want, not necessarily have to be a happy ending, do not think of the ending, let the writing speaks to itself.   Sometimes we may be affected by our mood, we’re receptive to our imagination, sometimes we shut it out. When we know something doesn’t work, and we chuck it, the feeling is pure liberation, nearly as good as doing something right in the first place. Actually, the feeling is better because the elimination of the wrong choice fortifies the rightness of the right one. Never wed-ourselves to a piece till it’s finished and we’re satisfied that all the parts work together. Often the section we prize the most, the one we’ve fallen head-over-heels in love with, turns out to be expendable. Toss it. We’ll be deliriously happy to discover how thrilling it feels to get rid of something that doesn’t fit our story—just like life.

In the end, eventually our writing validates our lives. No topic in writing is independent of any other, and nothing is ever done with.

Good readers make good writings. Write like we read. Everyone can read. Everyone can write. So everyone can speak up their mind. What’s your method of choice? You already know what mine is.

(Unless it moves the human heart: The Craft and Art of Writing – Roger Rosenblatt)

Optimal Experience

When we have all experienced times when, instead of being buffered by anonymous forces, we do feel in control of our actions, masters of our own fate. On the rare occasions that it happens, we feel a sense of exhilaration, a deep sense of enjoyment that is long cherished and that becomes a landmark in memory for what life should be like.

Contrary to what we usually believe, moments like these, the best moments in our lives, are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times—although such experiences can also be enjoyable, if we have worked hard to attain them. The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.

It is thus something that we make happen. For each person there are thousands of opportunities, challenges to expand ourselves. Such experiences are not necessarily pleasant at the time they occur.

Getting control of life is never easy, and sometimes it can be definitely painful. But in the long run, optimal experiences add up to a sense of mastery, or perhaps better; a sense of participation in determining the content of life; that comes as close to what is usually meant by happiness as anything else we can conceivably imagine.

Am I going through these experiences?

Am I gonna get the optimal experience?

I think I do, I am, I will.

I am now assured.

The question is, am I gonna be able to handle this?

That, I am certain, that I am not assured.

(Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)

When words fail

Do we need more vocabulary? Verbal, non verbal, is there in between those two?

It is arguable that we are at a loss for words, there is nothing in the language, adequate to describe how empowering it is to face what we are facing, or our uncertainty about the future may be. As indicated by Glenn Albrecht; Naming is powerful. It gives a shape, substance, and legitimacy to the things we experience.

When words fail, what should we say verbally? When actions fail, what are the precautions?

Should we then invent new words to create new actions?

Should we create new actions to invent new words?