I mean, on one hand, I don't want to write just for the sake of it. I want to write because I have something important to say, something meaningful, to me at least, to express. I want to write because I have a feeling, a thought, an idea that I have no better way of expressing. I don't want to write out of an obligation to anything or anyone. I think I even mentioned this in my very first post on this blog.
On the other hand, I also know that writing, for some people, is like a muscle that needs to be exercised and trained to improve or even remain usable. I'm aware that some writers literally write their way out of the rut of lack of inspiration and burn out. I can't quite imagine myself doing that. I imagine it would feel so forced, but I respect people who do that, and clearly, it works for them. Frankly, I have a lot of respect for anyone who dares to write anything, publicly or privately, forced or unforced.
The best writing advice I ever got came from Dave(The Goonerholic), God rest his soul. I had just started this blog and asked him for advice because I was very new to writing stuff for public consumption and I had no idea how to start. He simply said ''Cent, write it as you would say it''. As short as that sentence is, it did a lot for me. Its simplicity was what made it so useful and great for me because it simplified writing to me. It made me approach writing as talking to a friend.
So while, at the time, I wasn't used to writing for public consumption, I was familiar with talking to people. I even considered myself good at it. Suddenly writing felt familiar to me too. Dave's advice united what I knew with what I didn't know. If you're familiar with any kind of teaching/learning, then you might already know or noticed that this is the best way of introducing people to new ideas and concepts. Once you connect people's prior knowledge to new knowledge, you can literally see their eyes light up. It's the moment people say things like ''ohhh, now I understand!''
I don't know where I'm going with this post, perhaps it is an attempt to write myself out of a rut. Perhaps I'm just trying to share my thoughts with you in written form. Maybe I'm just trying to talk to a friend. Maybe I'm just writing for the sake it.
