Confessions Of A Teenage Writer

Woes of the Uninspired

You have that urge. That feeling that plagues you like no other. The urge to write. You sit down at your desk feeling as though in an hour or so you will have numerous pages filled up bearing the fruits of your work. However, after that hour you find yourself staring at a blank page. The blue line blinking at you almost mocking you. You feel as though you want to quit.

So in the end, you do quit. You get off the computer and watch TV. But you can't help that feeling. The feeling that you need to write something, anything! So you walk back to your desk and sit down staring at that ever blank screen.

This is a situation that I often find myself in, looking at that blank screen. I know that I have something in that head of mine that needs to be written, but it just won't share itself with me. That something that itches in my head silently screaming for me to get that spark so that it can be written down.

A lot of times when this happens I do get the spark I type up a line or two until it dies on me fading into nothing as if it was never there at all. Those are the times where I want to cry, scream, and shout out in frustration. Why can't I just write? Is there something wrong with me? Why can't I find my inspiration?

The minutes pass by turning to hours and I've taken break after break after break. Soon checking out my social media feeds seems way more important than writing down some story. I waste my time looking at Instagram and Pinterest. Then that feeling starts nagging at me again so I stop what I'm doing and go back to that same blank page.

Then something beautiful happens. That blank page gains some ink. Maybe terrible ink that needs some work, but still ink. My sorrows turn to joy and soon I don't feel so bad anymore. That anxious feeling subsides and I can gain some normalcy in my life again.

Sometimes, though, I don't get that inspiration and those are the days that I seek some advice via our good old friend, Google. My searches would often include writing inspiration, what to do to start feeling inspired again, and the worst of all writing prompts.

I have a love/hate relationship with writing prompts. They can be wonderful if you find the right ones and can often lead you to the inspiration for your next big book project. However, resorting to writing prompts takes me to a place where my memories aren't so great. My English class in middle school. My teacher always had us write in our journals for around ten minutes every class. Afterwards, she would ask us to share what we wrote with the class and have an open discussion.

When I write in those journals or anywhere else my soul is etched out on paper and sometimes sharing that piece of your soul can be painful. Often times if I wrote something that the other kids thought was childish or something they didn't agree with they readily shared their opinions and it often wasn't pretty.

So when I write from a prompt I feel no different from the me I was when I was a young kid.

There is another side to that coin. A much happier side. A side where I do write with a prompts guidance and get some of my best story ideas. Especially for those short stories and wonderful poetry works. At those times I get really excited and write with vigor until that last thought presents itself at the end of the page.

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Love yourself, Love your passions, and continue reading.
Thanks for reading!!! I love you my darling readers! :)
-ilovexica ;)