How to Write.

Be open.

I don't just mean open in the sense that you would think. Yes, be honest. But more importantly: be open to write. When you close yourself off and live in this little fantasy world where you don't feel and you hardly think- you cannot write. You just can't. Great writing comes from inspiration and nothing less. And what inspires us? For some it will be travel. For some it will be heartache, loneliness, or a combination of the two. For some it might be an Earth-shattering connection to a higher power. For some it will be love. Find out where you're closing yourself off and open the door, or at least a window. 

Write what you know. 

I'm hardly the first person to say this. You'd sound a bit like an idiot if you went around talking about things you know little about, right? Sometimes... sometimes we don't know much of anything. These are my entries that I have posted here where I admit a blankness in my life. But there's a reason that I do that: I want you to know that quite often, I feel like I don't know much of anything. And that's actually normal. Even if what you know is that you know so little; if you want to be a writer, admit that your mind is silent.

Confess.

The beauty about writing, to me, is that I can say anything. If I felt motivated to, I could confess my deepest feelings on life, family, or relationships. I choose not to expose myself TOO much here, but that's not to say that I don't come here to shed some layers. I'm a strange one, in case you haven't noticed. And I'm okay with that. As a kid I always felt too peculiar and alien to "the norm." I spent way too much time in my own head, trying to figure out how I felt about the world. It was when I started admitting my oddities and insecurities to people that I began to hear a soft chorus of peers whispering, "me, too."

Give life to your audience.

I'm not there with you, reading this. I don't know what you're feeling or thinking or how your day was (I'd love to, by the way. Drop me a line!) One of my most effective writing tools, in recent months especially, has been to envision that I am talking to you directly. How would I explain what I think about this topic? What advice do I so greatly want you to hear? It can be difficult to find my voice when I'm staring at a computer screen. My most effective motivation and inspiration is, as it should be, YOU.

Caffeine.

My final tip is from a post on Thought Catalog. I tend to write better in the morning, and am changing it to night time. If there was one thing that I wish I could still do it would be to write in the morning again, but my job now has me doing ACTUAL JOB things. Nothing jolts my creative juices like a nice dose of Vitamin C. And by that, I mean Caffeine. Oh, and my friend Matt says showers make him feel inspired. So... looks like I'll be especially hygienic these days.