Write on Purpose

A look inside a writer's brain, struggle, and strength.

Excuse me if I don’t want to be professional today…

But, I don’t. Sometimes my professional side takes control of my creativity and restricts me from writing/saying what I actually want to say. I think any writer gets that.

In fact, I think all writers have the tendency to over complicate their work or thought process whenever they try to put their hand to sharing their words. Simply because of how overwhelming the writing process is! 😬

Really, us writers deal with a bunch of stuff in our heads. Why is that? Oh, there’s dozens of reasons. Insecurities, stress (from life), the fact that we have to create something out of nothing...

I mean, it’s totally not easy to fill a blank page with sentences that actually make sense while relating/speaking to the readers with valid facts or solid statements. And in the case of fiction writers, we have to create characters, entire worlds, settings, dialogue, and a bunch of other stuff. And don’t get me started on poets. I mean… I’m stressing myself out just talking about how much us writers get stressed out!

And that’s just during the writing process. How about when we’re not writing? Well… I’m pretty sure every writer here can say that during their “not writing” time they are freaking out because they’re…well…not writing.

Found this on a Note. Laugh every time I see it 😂

Writers, let’s be honest with each other for one second, okay? We are really just a mess! 😂

But maybe that’s why we write? Filling up a page with words somehow detangles us from our mental messes and turns into something beautiful? That’s possible. (Your thoughts on this??)

But sometimes, we also write ourselves into a mess. A downward spiral of perfectionism and it’s-never-good-enough. Yeah. We also deal with critics (if not ourselves) then people on the outside. That’s also a driving factor of perfectionism or just straight up writing things that are depressing. 🙃

Sorry If I start sounding “old” and full of “wisdom.”

But my goodness do I “remember the days” when I would literally hide my journals from family, friends, teachers, anyone and everyone that could remotely read the stories I was writing! Why did I do that? Because I was terrified. I didn’t want people to start reading my stuff and then figure out what was going on inside of Merissa.

A writers work is sacred. They pour their soul onto the page, allowing themselves to have a moment of vulnerability and then they wait. They wait to have their words accepted or rejected.

That’s why I can’t stand it if I see people (especially non-writers) criticize my fellow writers. I almost want to yell, “Don’t you realize you’re criticizing their very souls? You’re attacking them in their vulnerability!”😠

I don’t care if it’s fiction or non-fiction writing. If a writer gets negative feedback, it hurts somewhere deep inside. And if you’re a writer, you know what I’m talking about. The haters are going to hate. And sadly, not everyone realizes that every writer has their own unique voice.

I personally don’t change my writing for the likes of others. However, that does not mean I don’t get hurt. Yeah, I’ll go watch rom-coms for hours with my dog and eat gummy worms, wondering if I really “should have done” anything different. It’s hard to recover from, alright? 🥺 (Call me too emotional, I don’t care).

But, seriously, there’s something that hurts when a negative comment swings in because of the realization that all your hard work was almost “just right.” 😔

I love constructive criticism. I love the “writing pushes.” I love the YOU GOT THIS encouragements.

Us writers need that. We need each other. If we don’t reach out to one another, we get trapped in the world of hiding our writing. We’ll always afraid of what people will think or what the outcome will be. Or, we won’t put as much effort and quality into our work because of the mentally that, “It will never be better, anyway.”

There’s plenty of people on Substack alone that constantly remind me the importance to keep on writing even when I feel like I can’t. More than that, they all—in their own ways—have helped me to grow in my writing when I thought I would never get any better. (Y’all are amazing! 😭)

In fact, it was actually my English college professor who gave me a major writing push that caused me to land. Right here. On Substack. How? Simple. I told her I wanted to be a fiction author so she decided to dissect every essay that came from me to make sure I LEARNED basic, valuable writing structures. But at the same time, she provided advice and creative writing resources (such as Substack!) to help me learn, grow, and thrive in the area I wanted to—even though her job description was to just teach me about essays.

“It’s best you get started on your writing career right now, Merissa. Don’t wait until you finish your degree,” ~My Professor.

Writer to writer, my professor and I connected on a level I needed. Especially at that time in my life and I thank God for her impact! My professor told me “don’t wait” for a reason. Waiting for the perfect feeling, perfect writing environment, perfect degree, perfect idea, perfect anything sucks the life out of our words. 😵

WRITE ON PURPOSE ✍️

What does that even mean? It means what it says.

Write when it doesn’t make sense and keep writing. Write when you have nothing to write. Write when you’re in a brain fog. Write when you’re still upset about yesterday’s failures. Write when you don’t have a plan. Write when you do have a plan. Write about what happened in that moment. Write about what you think might happen.

Write because you’re a writer. Write because there’s someone out there who’s a reader. Write because the God of Creativity gave you the heart that can create a story, essay, poem, statement, whatever it is … for someone else to soak in and receive ❤️

Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.

Habakkuk 2:2 NKJV

Just like how I have been encouraged by fellow Substackers and my professor to keep writing, I hope to encourage you to do the same. After reading this post, pull out your laptop. Grab that journal and pen. Write whatever is on your heart or find a writing prompt to use.

Write on Purpose because your words have a Purpose.

God gave you that dream, vision, idea, word, and inspiration for a reason. Use it, write it. I know writing is a stressful task, but you can find peace in it with every page you fill. The satisfaction that you made it and did it will carry you through the struggle of a writer. Don’t let the criticism (good or bad kind) paralyze you. Take a breath, flip the page, and try again. ✍️

It’s okay.

Let writing become a journey of discovery. The discovery that we are all human, full of flaws and messes.

But guess what? The Writer of our Life-Story is the Creator of everything. And He is the one who detangles our messes and cleans up the flaws in our life story. Allow the Lord to reflect that truth through your writing, and the stress and insecurities will fall right off the page. 👋

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith

Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV

Write on Purpose. There’s an author inside of you desperately waiting to spill onto a page. There’s a story or essay on your heart someone else is waiting to read. Go and deliver it.

I’m cheering you on all the way through! 🥳

ACTION PLAN

Seriously. Make one, right now. What is your action plan? Tell me in the comments. What are you writing today?? I want to read about it! ✍️

Photo by Kasturi Roy on Unsplash

P.S. Did yall like the excessive emoji use? It was fun🤪