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Writing for self expression
Hi
Over the last five years I have been encouraged to write as a way of coping with who I am and the conflicts it can bring into daily life. I was wondering who else has tried writing and if you found it useful?
For me the chance to scribble down thoughts and feeling makes me focus on who I really am and how the pocket of humanity around me impacts on my sense of wellbeing and destination on this journey. I have had to read the many chapters over several times to make sure spelling and grammar are ok but the feeling of release is always very welcome. I am not saying that it has to be perfect to be effective but in my world order and clarity helps reduce the stress from things I can’t change.
Recently I posted a 100 page autobiographical / fiction story on a fiction website mainly to get ego points but also to get constructive feedback on my style and ability. My page count is now over 250 pages of stories and more importantly, feeling of who I am and where I am going.
BTW it has not improved my spelling, but that is why we have spell checkers.
Kerry
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3 Replies
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This is a subject I find very interesting. I have always enjoyed writing, and I get a warm inner glow if I feel I have created something worthy of reading. I also appreciate it when others take the time to, or simply have the talent to, write succinctly and in an easily readable style.
I also appreciate from personal experience that there are times when getting the message out is more important (rightly or wrongly) than the structure of that message or spelling and punctuation. In my case that sense of urgency is directly proportional to the number of typos and grammatical errors in my posts.
Kerry, I admire anyone who has published work in whatever form or forum, and I will always have a soft spot for someone who cares about the written word.
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I too enjoy writing and have 5 or more novels and short stories on the go, some go back 20 years! From time to time I get enthusiastic and spend a month writing the next chapter but have grave doubts that anything will ever get published( it has just occurred to me that my brother is a publisher…eh, there’s an idea!)
I have several short stories on the go that deal with various aspects of the Transgender world but I find it hard to have a happy ending, I just so rarely see it in real life unfortunately.
What about a section on TR for short stories? -
Dear all
What a deliciously therapeutic topic.
For many of us girls the world of secrecy and repression over decades is often unveiled and liberated through the simple act of struggling to string a few words together in the privacy of solitude. Writing is never easy, always a struggle of definition and clarity over innuendo which in itself engages the seductive pleasures of reformulating reality. But even assuming the exploration of of ambiguity, writing is the opportunity, at least for me, to reflect, to communicate with myself (and others should they be interested) and be myself through what I say, what I feel and think within a context of experience rather than how I appear within a world of cliché expectations. Writing in this sense affords us all the vehicle to find the tentative words to know ourselves… and even within this site, without concern to be rated and evaluated for appropriateness/topicality.
Given that this is a site that caters to a plurality of gender declinations /experiences it is a wonderful opportunity for everyone to contribute something really personal and meaningful; to discover each other beyond the too often guarded brevity of answering the topic question without exposing anything of substance that would betray our frailty, our humanity; collectively and individually. Paradoxically, the inner truth is what we all seek (perhaps through insecurity), though in an often round about way…the fact that we look to each other to share some elements of a common humanity. The search for each of us that vindicates our hopes that someone else has experienced the same sensations, … that shares something that approaches our sensibility and yes, reassures each of us that we’re not beyond the pale…. regardless of our particular sense of our femininity of expression.
I think this topic could serve as an introduction to a range of creative expressions that may eventually find a place within our individual blogs as the ‘stories we tell ourselves’- how we explain ourselves through through our experience as a adjunct to the accepted wisdom of a group within a changing/evolving society. For those of you who are apprehensive and perhaps self-conscious I think that the object here is self-expression, self-definition and reflection. The best stories are not necessarily the the most sophisticated but rather those who find meaning in a genuineness; a forthright honesty of character…. which is ultimately what we admire and are inspired by in each other.
I hope many of you will be inspired to add your thoughts here and through which we will eventually find a way to both interact and preserve some of the wonderful stories we can tell each other, reassure each other of, in a search for our common humanity.
…with great expectations and thanks for the thread that may eventually unravel the fabric…
yours,
Sonya
