Writing for the fun of it
I don’t know about you, but I have a way of making writing either really fun for myself or a total drudgery.
Here’s what makes writing a drudgery for me:
Forcing my writing to become a “thing”. It must be the best blog post ever! It must become a published book and sell a million copies and make me one of those wealthy, famous authors!
Once I put those kinds of stakes on my writing, suddenly everything I write feels wrong. I judge each word, each turn of phrase, and each idea. And most of the time, my judgement is that, no, this one is wrong. This idea won’t work. This won’t be that amazing piece of writing that will launch my creative career into the stratosphere.
When I get in this headspace, writing is so not joyful. I become a pool of anxiety, and my creative flow gets blocked completely.
Here’s what makes writing fun for me:
Letting go of all the stakes. Knowing this piece of writing doesn’t have to become anything. It doesn’t have to be a “great work” or get me published. It doesn’t have to go viral or make me a fortune. This is writing for the fun of it.
When I can do this, suddenly my creativity flows. I’m no longer criticizing each word. I’m no longer deciding I’ve failed before I’ve even started. When I get into this headspace, I enjoy writing, because writing for fun is…actually fun!
I think in our world it's challenging to write for the fun of it, because, as a society, we can get obsessed with making our creativity into a thing.
If I write a short story, I immediately think about how this story is going to get published, and how that will lead to a multi-book deal, and how that multi-book deal will lead to my name on the NYT’s bestseller list. And suddenly, all my words need to live up to that standard. That’s way too much pressure for my sensitive, creative soul.
Here’s the truth. I don’t know the future. I might publish a book one day, and that book might sell. But in the meantime, the one thing I do know is I’m here today, sitting at my keyboard, and I want to make this moment joyful.
And if this moment of writing can be joyful, I’ll probably sit at my keyboard again tomorrow and the next day, and eventually, because writing is a source of pleasure, I’ll have written lots of words. And that thought puts a big smile on my face.
Often, putting high stakes on our writing stops us from being able to do the writing we long to do.
So, how can you lower the stakes today? Is there something you’d love to write just for the fun of it? I say go for it!
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