Writers, Be Thankful for Bad Things

My fiction, Thoughts of A Rose 2 Minutes

Hello there everyone. I hope you’re surviving this chaotic world! Speaking of which, I have been thinking a lot about the chaos of this world. I’m sure most of us are on board on this, or is it just me? I don’t think so.

I’ve been writing a lot, a lot. That made me remember about a professor in the creative writing program at UC Irvine. He said that writers should be thankful for the bad things that happen in their life. He chuckled at his statement while the whole class stared at him with a blank expression. Besides our personal struggles, we also have to cope with the madness of this world. According to his [my professor’s] philosophy, if you’re a writer, you have plenty to write about, right? Of course.

As I write my short stories or my fiction novel, I realize the terrible moments and feelings are the ones I can express and connect with the most. They don’t have to necessarily be my terrible personal problems because the characters slowly begin to have their own life of struggles. Striking the keyboard in a rapid manner as I leave behind typos and mostly nonsense made me wonder, what is it about chaotic stories/characters that we like so much? It’s as if writers secretly like bad things to happen so that we have something to write about on our blank screens–so the little black letters appear like inkblots without meaning hoping they make sense at some point.meteorite-1060886_1920

According to Robert McKee, human beings need to tell stories to make sense out of the chaos we live in and to keep civilization moving forward. It makes me think if I’m subconsciously giddy about chaos. I certainly hope not because that’s insane. But aren’t we all a little mad? Joyce Carol Oates explains similar ideas about writing like McKee. She states that most people write to communicate. We also write to find meaning– “to understand ourselves and to understand the world.”

Certainly, we see a clear pattern of this so-called CHAOTIC writing. Ironically, writing is in itself a big mess–as Jenna Moreci puts it, “thought dumping” [brainstorming stage], editing, and revising so that the story makes sense. MAKE SENSE, MAKE SENSE all over the place. See, we love CHAOS all around. So why do we do it? Why do you write?

I personally feel that any time I write anything, even if it’s crap, it’s a therapeutic process. Purging terrible ideas and writing is quite comforting as well because that leads me to write better and to improve. Without a doubt, writing is a multi-faceted experience.

©Ana P. Rose & Anaprose 2017.

 

I posted two links on today’s blog. And the third one is on outlining by Jenna Moreci. I hope they are useful for you in one way or another. Thanks, and have an awesome chaotic…just kidding. Have a good day or night.

http://bigthink.com/videos/joyce-carol-oates-on-writing

http://bigthink.com/videos/writers-make-sense-out-of-chaos

Warning: Jenna Moreci cusses a lot. lol But I love her channel, and she’s awesome.

 

 

 

 

Published by Ana P. Rose

Hi, welcome to Ana's blog. Ana is a Xennial, born and raised in California. She is interested in creative writing, news, sports, and entertainment. Ana is a graduate of UC Irvine with a Bachelor of Arts in English, in 2013. She received a Master of Arts in English at Azusa Pacific University, in 2017. A few fun facts: Ana is a fan of soccer (football). Her favorite player is Cristiano Ronaldo, and her favorite teams are Real Madrid and Liverpool. She's learning French. She speaks fluently both English and Spanish. And the first book she read as a child was the Bible in Spanish. Lastly, she's writing her first book, and she hopes to publish it soon. It's a fantasy (psychological) with Christian themes novel. All rights reserved ©anaprose.com 2022/23

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9 thoughts on “Writers, Be Thankful for Bad Things”

  1. Yeah, I didn’t realize how much writing helped me. Even though I’ve went years without doing it, I can see how interlaced it is in my life. Whether it comes to emails or letters to friends, writing and explaining myself or my ideas has cleared things. I started keeping a diary when I was 12 pretty much because I was excited about things happening and wanted to remember them and I’m pretty sentimental. Gradually the change in my entries was quite a far space between. Less boys and flirts and more life and problems and less fuzzy great stuff. Even if i see it as a crappy writing, I too get a lot from just getting it out there. It seems less scary that way. When there are words I can at least attempt to put towards whatever im feeling or is happening. 🙂

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    1. Thank you for sharing. I agree. I don’t keep a diary. I could never be that consistent with it. But yes, writing is something out of this world. 🌍 I have to write. 📝

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  2. Awesome post. That’s one of the most fantastic things about writing, I think, at least for me — the sheer catharsis of it. Even when writing about distant worlds or characters totally unlike us, writers can really confront their demons, face up to their biggest anxieties, and get to know themselves more than we they could have imagined. But it’s still a painful process, nonetheless!

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    2. Some stories really do wear you out more than others, including certain characters. At the end though, it feels like the soul cleanses itself somehow. It’s peculiar experience. Thanks for the comment! It’s a great one too,and I completely agree. I also thought that replied. So my apologies for the late reply. ✌️👍👌

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      1. Oh yeah, I definitely hear you on that; there are some stories and characters that are like putting one’s heart through a meat grinder. But yeah, it’s absolutely a cleansing experience. Thanks for your additional thoughts, and no problem!

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