by Jane Forrest

Created on: April 03, 2010

Having experienced some pain or heartache always makes it easier for me to write. When you experience the feeling you can express this in a more creative way. It appears to be easier and quicker to pour out your emotions on to paper particularly using a pen. Often typing can be distracting, looking at the screen, looking at the television, being interrupted in a way which, writing with a pen doesn't appear to have the same effect. When I use the laptop I find myself stopping to check what I've written at each paragraph, whereas, with the pen usually an article is written without interruption. There is something to be said for old fashioned methods. When I take a life writing group I still write with pen and paper and have collected around fifty books holding my life writing over the years.

When I know about a particular subject, it is much easier to allow the knowledge to pour out from me onto paper. When I don't know about a certain subject I usually avoid writing about it, however recently I have given myself the challenge to try and stretch myself.

When I am physically emotional I believe I write really well because I can express what I'm feeling and it's easier to keep the writing flowing on and on.  As you write, new things can emerge, new thoughts, which go from one thought to another. As you are in a flow while you write, and think, one appears to lap into the other, encouraging new creations as you pen each line, or type each word.

I used to write in a group where it was mostly emotional writing and one day I decided not to write about the subject on hand because there was someone in the group who I wanted to keep my anonymity in front of. Suddenly I found it rather difficult just to be writing and not expressing myself in the normal upfront honest way.  I had to write something made up and false. It was very challenging for me, however it was all part of growing within the group and allowed me to branch out later.

Knowing about a subject is one thing, however knowing about a subject and having felt the feelings within that subject is a different thing. If you have a passion about something I believe it is so much easier to write.

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