Natural Writing

Forced writing is language that feels tense and unnatural. It happens when writers don't trust their creative process and try to control it. If writing is allowed to flow naturally, like our thought processes, in a stream-of-consciousness pattern, it will feel natural and will read easily. It's a matter of physics - pushing vs. pulling. Forced writing involves pushing words into shapes and patterns that our critical mind tells us is "good writing." Natural writing involves letting the words pull us through a conduit of connected thoughts and insights that leads to discovery. It's hard to let go in this way and trust our seemingly unruly thought processes. After all, creativity is a beast that must be tamed, is it not? Ironically, it is when writers let go and let flow, without regard to rules and standards and expectations, that truly meaningful writing emerges. It is this pulling of words through our consciousness that allows the kind of honest, raw writing that moves readers. There can be nothing forced about creativity. It's rather a giving in to it, a surrendering, that transforms language from mere form to art form. Truly inspired writing comes from this place of trust and openness and it is available to every writer who is willing to let go.