I have an observation to make.
I realised that the greatest painters, poets, writers, classical composers and other creative human beings produced their masterpieces when they were in torment. The great painter Vincent Van Gogh famously cut off his left ear in a fit of rage against fellow painter Gauguin as well as due to extreme loneliness. (Wikipedia source is here.)
Torment.
Strong emotions. Happiness just doesn’t cut it. You can only write so much about joy until you are red in the face but the writing will not be as riveting and exciting. There has to be elements of pain and lament. Here are some emotions that produce the best work – rage/anger, grief, loss, pain, lost love, hate, pining, jealousy, hopelessness, confusion….even hunger.
Loneliness. The landscape of loneliness is so vast, intricate, and oh so bleak!
Love. The best state that a writer can hope to be in. IN LOVE. Unrequited love? Even more divine. Forbidden love? Stuff that legends are made of.
Dark emotions resonate the most with readers. Alas, where to find darkness? We all have it in us. In our stories. In our past. Our experiences. Unrequited love. Remember your first love? Remember what drove you to write unsent love letters to a first crush? Maybe you even wrote a poem or two? Or filled out notebooks with writings about someone you pined for…
If you want to write and you are not in a dark turbulent place, what do you do? Dig deep. Project! Summon memories and dark emotions. Pretend you are in that place right now.
What of me? Only you my readers can tell me if my writing has improved or if I have grown since I started blogging in 2009.
Am I in torment? Or am I projecting torment?!
I’ll keep you {and me} guessing. ❤
Much love,
Cha
D says
These evoke empathy and touch the core of one’s humanity so they get attention from people. Methinks.
As for you, you have grown not because you’re tormented but you are getting to know YOU. My two cents.
myglorybox.com says
D! Your words…they’re worth two dollars to me, at least. I am not sure what to do with my newfound ME…so I continue to…explore… <3