This post was written for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group where we share our encouragement or insecurities on the first Wednesday of the month, to join the group or find out more click here.
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Co-Hosts:
JH Moncrieff | Madeline Mora-Summonte | Jen Chandler | Megan Morgan | Heather Gardner
Monthly Question: Did you ever say “I quit”? If so, what happened to make you come back to writing?
We all have stories about when we began writing. Some of us started with poems and others wrote short stories in grade school. In that way, we’re all similar. We had a voice, and it needed to be used.
As a teen, my only vent was my writing. I faced death at a young age and it made me more than morbid. I didn’t dress in all black and sleep in a coffin, but I would have given a choice.
I wrote poems about death and the everlasting soul and spent hours over books about the occult and eventually inherited a set of tarot cards from a friend of a friend who saw The Exorcist in the theater. She completely misunderstood what I was doing, but that’s okay I still have the cards.
I believed in non-violence and was repeatedly heat broken by the death of my peers from drinking and driving accidents. My poems seemed to catch what we all felt—shock and profound sadness. And a deep hope that the soul lived on free of suffering.
During this time of trouble, my writing saved my life. It allowed me to blow up without hurting anyone, or question life without having someone else’s solutions pushed upon me. I could ask questions of the universe and work out some answers that made sense—maybe only to me.
While I was doing all this I felt lost, but something outstanding came of it. I found my writing voice
I’ll never quit writing and my breaks are usually short because those feelings still come out of nowhere and when they do I pick up a pen.
Ever use your writing as a form of therapy or simply to vent? I highly recommend it.
elements of emaginette 
Sounds like it was meant to be…
sherry @ fundinmental
So true. 🙂
That was beautiful. I too knew death early in life. I am haunted by a sadness I cannot shake which I am sure contributed to not so good decisions sometimes. I am sure it still contributes to my struggle to move forward. I love how you used yours to write poems. I guess I did too but not as many as I should have as emotion would overwhelm and block my writing at times. *rolls eyes, looks around* still does sometimes. Great post.
‘ Juneta @ Writer’s Gambit
For me it was more volcanic. It would explode if I didn’t deal with it. No one deserved that. 🙂
Sorry to hear you’ve lost so many friends. The same happened to me in high school, and a lot of deaths were due to drinking and driving in my world as well.
Writing is a lifeline. It’s gotten me through so many rough times. I really don’t know where I’d be without it!
I’d never give it up. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your story. Poetry is definitely an emotional outlet for me too, but not so much as when I was young. I guess I’ve mellowed with age.
Me too and I’m so glad. 🙂
This is a beautiful post. Thank you for opening up.
Unlike you, I started writing late, already in my 40s, but writing liberated me. Before I started, I felt as if I was living in a box, with the lid closed. Very small space, and I was small too, but I seemed to be fine with that. I accepted what was (I’m not a revolutionary). Then I discovered writing, and suddenly the lid was off, and I climbed out. I became ‘bigger’ somehow. My space is much larger these days too, and it includes online writing friends, like you and many others. And at last I feel free to say what I want, to express myself – in writing only, I’m still very reserved in my real life, but at least the vent is open.
Isn’t it wonderful to be free. 🙂
Writing is my therapy. I’m not sure what I would do without it. I can think about my characters lives when my own is too troublesome. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
The escape is wonderful, isn’t it? 🙂
Writing has always been my way to control the world, to deal with whatever is bothering me. Thanks for sharing 🙂
To help me deal as well. I don’t know where I’d be without it. 🙂
It’s great that you’ve been able to use writing to navigate through some challenging and difficult times. It does seem like it would be a good outlet and almost a form of therapy.
It’s how I managed it all and then I had a large source to draw from when I moved to fiction. 🙂
If I’m not able to write or work on a story every day, even if it’s just for a little bit, I miss it. I may not ever be a popular writer, but I plan to write for as long as I’m able.
Popularity never came into it for me either. I am a writer; that’s what I do. hehehe
Writing can truly be a lifesaver, and it is for many of us at different times in our lives. Glad it helped you then and continues to do so now.
What I can’t talk about, I can write about. 🙂
Writing is a great form of therapy and I use it often. 🙂
It’s good for the soul. 🙂
You sound a lot like me as a teenager, witnessing a lot of tragedy and being all dark and morbid. Writing has always been a comfort to me too–I could never REALLY give it up for good.
There are so many of us.
Wow, I think that was me as a teen, too. I lost my father when I was younger and everything before that moment is hazy in my memory, but from that point on, it’s clear – and that is when I started writing.
Loss needs to be expressed. No way around it.
So sorry to hear about your past, but I’m glad you turned such terrible trauma into something you can be proud of.
I have and now I know I’m not the only one. It feels good to share. 🙂
What a beautiful post. Writing always helped me cope too as a teen and my mom told me just the other day she had no idea I wrote so much so young. When you love it, it’s hard to picture life without it. Something just feels off 🙂
So very true. 🙂
Writing is so therapeutic. It’s helped me through dark moments, too.
Thanks for sharing your story and telling us about your past. Hugs!
It gets easier every time I open up. Thanks for your kindness. 🙂
Hi, I agree that our writing is our big buffer system, it saves us from so many things, namely despair, depression, loneliness, and we can also retreat into our stories when we want solitude.
I can’t live there, but visiting is awesome. 🙂
Writing is my therapy, for sure. While I do aspire to finish things and create works that can be sold and read, I would write even if I couldn’t do that. It’s important to my own mental and emotional health. @mirymom1 from
Balancing Act
The money is a bonus.
I think I came to writing as a kind of therapy. It helped me (and still does) to write through thoughts and feelings. Thanks for sharing your story.
Letting go feels great. 🙂
I’ve never been the type of writer to write when I’m upset or need to vent. It’s like my muse just shuts down. I suppose I could just write out the thoughts in my head, but I have yet to try that.
It’s not for everyone. I get that. 🙂
Writing is the BEST therapy. Actually, I’ve been using journaling to keep me sane for ages, but there have been many instances when some of those feelings spilled over into my fiction. I think that’s what gives a story authenticity, when others can relate to the experiences.
I use it the same way. I can dive pretty deep when I need to. 🙂
Yes indeed, writing can be powerfully therapeutic. Your tale reminds me of many of my students. I taught high school English classes, as well as theater, and students would bring me the most heart-wrenching, gloomy, stormy poetry. I was always pleased when a kid would agree to have his/her work published in our poetry anthology. That validation, not just of their feelings, but of their talent in expressing it, seemed to help them move through their pain.
I think you’re spot on. It helped me many a time. 🙂
For me, it’s the breaks from writing that are therapy but not in the way I thought they would be. I took a break last year and it did nothing but draw me deeper into the well. I’ve committed to taking a break this summer and guess what? The story that slithered into my head last summer break knocked on my door and finally, FINALLY, cracked through the plaster. Breaks help us see clearer. And I’ve learned that a true writer never really quits. They walk away, run away or leave, but they always come back, stronger and more confident than they were before!
Cheers!
Jen
I think we keep at something even when we don’t think about it. This story that came knocking is exactly what I mean. It needed you to go quiet and let it bubble up. Congrats on the break through. 🙂
I wasn’t very self aware about such things when I was young. Glad writing helped you through those times.
Lucky you and I mean that. Being happy can be a gift. 🙂
It seems you were exploring some very deep wells at an early age. That journey is always difficult, but it has to be immense when you come to it without a lot of experience to draw from. I’m sure that when you write now you’re using all that you learned.
Very true. Not that I was aware of it at the time. 🙂
Sorry for your difficult losses, but here’s to writing as a way to save us. 🙂
Writing was good for me. And bad things happen to everyone. I just had to deal earlier than most. 🙂
I will always stick up for teens writing “angry poetry” because 1) writing is good therapy and 2) you never know who will turn up as a future bestseller. 🙂
Here’s my IWSG June post: how to survive the ‘little quits’
Passion must be expressed. It keeps us healthy and thinking about things. 🙂
I am terrible at poetry. So glad you could use your poetry to express your feelings. And so pleased you worked through your problems creatively. Good for you. Thank you for sharing.
It was the safe thing to do. I had some guidance as well. 🙂
I had my share of angry poetry and a journal I wrote in when I was in high school, which was therapeutic. I do still channel certain negative emotions into my writing, but they’re far less angsty–you can say a lot about the state of your current world when you’re writing historicals, actually.
That’s insightful. 🙂
Writing has always been cathartic for me, as well. I still sit down and just write stream of consciousness when something hurts deep and I don’t trust enough to say the words out loud. Then I hit delete. Funny about your tarot cards – I have two decks that I use to tease out character traits. (Two because the art on each is so different that there is no end of idea prompts.) Thanks for co-hosting today!
The deck has come in handy for a few ideas. 🙂
Hi, Anna! Writing was a lifeline for me during some devastating times, only I didn’t write poetry, I journaled. If I hadn’t had my diary as an outlet, I might have committed suicide. I’m missing one diary about one of the most painful times in my life. I think my shocked and appalled Baptist grandmother found it and burned it in her garbage drum at the back of her garden while I was doing the late-60s-early-70s thing traveling around France and Spain in a Volkswagen bus! I have a deep hope that the soul lives on free of suffering. Too many special people in my life have died too young, and I’ve known so many damaged souls, often through no fault of their own. We all need more gentleness, acceptance, and compassion, right here, right now! Good luck with your writing this month!
I agree writing is amazing therapy. It helped me get through a major downer in my life when my other career died for a while. I was obsessed and wrote fourteen hours a day for months until I competed my first novel. 125K for an MG fantasy. I hear you laughing now. YES a tiny bit LONG. But i did trim it down over the years and now it’s an acceptable 62K. I pick it up every few years, rework it and query it. Seems like it will never go anywhere. BUT you never know. And it still is great therapy. It may be time to pick it back up.
It’s a monument to recovery no matter what the future brings. 🙂
How wonderful that you found writing to be therapeutic. We all need something to release the emotions.
I definitely write for those reasons – to vent, to think on paper, and to give voice to joy and sorrow. That’s one of the reasons I can’t quit for very long.
Looks like we’re both hooked. hehehe
I find writing therapeutic as well. And a lifeline – AMEN to that. I’m so glad it helped you through such dark times. Thanks for sharing your story with us.
The support group is a safe place for me. Easy to share. 🙂
I started writing for therapeutic reasons also, though I didn’t know it at the time.
Funny how that works. hehehe
Thank you for visiting my blog and for sharing this story. I didn’t experience death early on, but I’ve had my share of life experiences that have rattled me. All my writing is therapeutic in some way. If I was somehow prohibited from writing, I’d be a total mess or worse.
You and me both. 🙂
It’s wonderful that you can turn to writing to get through tough times. I used to write poems in high school, but never thought of myself as a writing I did it for me. I didn’t start writing stories until I was an adult. I enjoy being able to escape the stress of life by becoming immersed in stories, both my own and in the books I read.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Books are a great place to vacation. 🙂
I’m sorry you had to deal with so much trauma at such a young age. It’s great that you were able to use writing as a release. Writing keeps me sane. I don’t know where I’d be without it.
We are on the same page my friend. 🙂
Wow. That’s the way to get even with life. Suffering can deepen our writing, no question. Which is the way I felt when I was younger–nothing much had happened to me. I’m so glad writing has been so precious to you.
It’s all evened out now. In a weird way I’m glad it happened. -)
So sorry you had to deal with such loss. I remember my first experience losing someone I knew.
I didn’t completely understand it wasn’t my fault.
YES! Exactly that! Whenever I’m troubled, upset or confused, picking up a pen and writing it out is invaluable.
Thank you for sharing this Anna 🙂
We’re peas in a pod. 🙂
Writing is always my therapy, whether I’m venting or simply writing for the joy of it, it always soothes me.
It does. Mostly why I love it so. 🙂
Poetry is the best form of expression, but yes, writing is therapy for many of us! Good luck with your writing and especially your poetry!
Thanks. 🙂
Wow, what a profound story, Anna. Yes, writing is such a great, safe, and yet, expansive way to vent. From there, new things can grow. Wonderful things. And, we become alchemists in our own lives, turning the rotten compost into flowers and gardens by the touch of our pen. Salud! 🙂
I also think of what happened as compost that feeds my garden. 🙂
Thanks for this heartfelt post, Anna.
I came to writing very late (do those angsty teen poems count?)
I always say I’m the late bloomer. Because of this, I feel that there are ‘gaps’ in my writing process that I’m trying to fill.
I’m in no hurry because I don’t intend quitting, yet I feel that, as a late bloomer, I need to get on with it asap. But these things can’t be rushed… *sigh*
I’ll get there…
You’re right. When it comes to writing the journey, it takes what it takes. 🙂
I’m glad you discovered the healing power of writing at a young age – and when you needed it SO much.
I guess that’s the real reason I could never quit writing – the therapeutic aspects. The only time i don’t feel lost is when I’m mentally plotting or physically writing.
We’re cut from the same cloth. 🙂
Hi,
I so understand your using your writing as a therapeutic method to deal with whatever it is that you have to face or you don’t understand. Keep writing out your heart. Your comfort lies in knowing that you find yourself.
All the best.
Shalom aleichem,
Patricia
You do get. The journey inside isn’t always a bad thing. It can make us stronger. 🙂
Writing is definitely an outlet for me, although I usually am writing about things I don’t want to write about for $$$! But fiction writing can be an escape…like reading, only better.
Yes! Much better. It’s more like lucid dreaming. 🙂
I hear you, clearly. I wish life could be simpler sometimes, but then I see and understand how adversity enriches our proses. Glad you are in my blog world.
I think you’re right. Without a bumpy road to boost our esteem when we succeed, where would we be.
I’m glad we are each other’s blogospheres. 🙂
Anna,
Definitely. That’s pretty much where I am right now, most of my writing is venting. Even my fiction seems to be like 90% venting right now. I agree it is a great, safe way to work through things and see them from another angle.
Anne
Work it through ’til you feel better. 🙂
Lovely and deep 😊
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, eh?… Damn I wish I knew of this earlier…
Join the fun. You’ll love it. 😉