The secret to writing in any capacity is to share what you know. Expository pieces are simply your opportunity to play detective; it is finding a topic and examining it. Informative texts allow the readers to learn something new by looking at the facts. Personally, creative or entertainment work is my top choice. Friends of this category are poems, social media captions, short stories, books, and many more. Don’t get my message confused here, I’m not saying writing is always easy, and I may have oversimplified things too much.
At some point in our lives, we have been required to do something that requires some out-of-the-box thinking. I’m referring to the bountiful amount of writing that takes place daily: research papers, reflections, reports, and, I can’t forget, captions for socials. And yet, it happens frequently that our ability to flow seems to have been blocked off mentally. It is like staring at a white wall waiting for the color to stain and create a vibrant mural in front of your eyes. But what if I told you the process did not have to be so complex?
Understandably, not everyone is a Jane Austin, Ernest Hemingway, J.K. Rowling, Charles Dickens, or any other greats, and that is perfectly fine. Writing for pleasure can be scary, getting thoughts down on paper can be mortifying, and research (yuck!); looking at a blank page is the equivalent of the aforementioned white wall. The key is to find inspiration based on your topic of choice! You can’t run away from writing, but you can reframe your approach to it. Picture this…
The computer tab is open next to you, and the blank screen is just sitting there (if you are old-fashioned, this is a piece of paper and a writing tool); you scratch your head for hours trying to put words to paper, but the only outcome is rubbish. Why is that? So often, we get caught up in word counts, requirements, or several other distractions that derail us from our ideas. In the case of social media, you are staring at your device and want to come up with an engaging caption; what dam has stopped your flow of creative juices?
Pressure is the answer to that question. We are so worried about what others will think about what we have to say that we refrain from genuinely expressing ourselves. Emojis are replacing words, and captions just keep shrinking except for hashtags. Social media is a marketing tool and simultaneously functions as a form of expression, just like writing. Words are powerful in any format.
To be a good writer, you must feel what you are saying. In the same way, a confident person can capture the attention of those in a room, a strong writer can move people through the experience. Words can teach, hurt, heal, inspire, and motivate people. So next time you sit down to write, think about the attitude you are creating for your readers or listeners (if it is a speech). Find your outlet of inspiration and plug yourself into that electric charge of flow that is writing.