Honestly, this isn’t going to be a complex explanation of the difficulties writers face in perfecting or producing their work. Most times, writing itself is pretty easy, all it takes is a pen and paper and you’re good to go. This is going to be more of an explanation of why we don’t pick that pen and paper as often as we should and why when we do we find it hard to actually write something.

“I can never right my wrongs unless I write it down for real” — Kendrick Lamar in Poetic justice.
To allow you better understand it all, I’ll start by sharing my writing story…
I started writing as a grade school kid. A lot of my works were derivative spin-offs of the storybooks I read. For the most part, I attempted to insert myself or my environment into these stories that were usually set in sceneries I couldn’t relate to. It wasn’t anything beautiful but the greatest challenge I faced at that time simply had to do with writing that many words without having my tiny hands spasm. The thrill of having pieces of me in my own twisted versions of what would have otherwise been a far-fetched dream kept me going. That for me like most authors was my writing honeymoon…

I ditched writing for a few years due to entrance exams and the “joy” of settling into a new school. I picked it up again in my second year of secondary school. I started off by writing poetry. At that time retelling, Enid Blyton’s stories seemed rather boring and childish to me and I wanted a write-up that truly had my originality.
My first poem was on silence. At that time I was in a very bad place for my mental health. My grades were subpar, I had no friends, and the few times I talked to people they spent more time trying to demean me than actually helping out. The poem was my way of subtly reaching out and telling the world how I felt: The moments I felt happy at that time were the silent moments, the times I didn’t have to think about grades or friends and all I had was a dull but calming peace to accompany me. I continued to write like this for the rest of my secondary school years: Constantly pouring my emotions into my work and subtly echoing my angst through each poem.
I got into university and I dropped poetry and other forms of fictional writing for non-fiction.

I felt that writing non-fiction would aid me in getting a handle on my emotions. Ironically, it had the opposite effect. I consistently found myself writing about things I was passionate about. Every time I wrote an article I could feel my body burn either with righteous anger at the atrocities I condemned or cringe in pure disgust as I described the deeds of people I considered vile. I realized that I couldn’t separate my emotions from my work and that’s how my writings would always be.
I ended up meeting an amazing community of writers and realized that their writing all had that same trait: It was just as emotional as mine. They wrote about their thoughts, fears, and feelings and were unashamed about it. Although I stuck to my non-fictional path, I grew up to realize that emotions are a core part of writing for many writers and I wasn’t alone in the cold dark hellscape that writing could sometimes be.

The point of this story is to explain the writing process for most writers. Most writers are writing about their deepest fears and joys. They tap into these emotions and weave a story that tries to allow you to understand the world as they perceive it. Writing forces you to bear a degree of your emotions to the world and hope it accepts it. There’s a fear that comes with that move, much like a hopeless romantic that confesses to his crush in hopes that they’re accepted. Writers have to deal with that anxiety every step of the way regardless of whatever field they choose to write on. There’s nothing more heart-breaking to a writer than his works being underappreciated. At that moment, the world invalidates his feelings and forces him to watch as they do so. The trauma of that experience far surpasses average romantic rejection.

To conclude, writers work with more than just pen and paper; they work with emotions. Their bleeding hearts merge with the ink to send a message; one that they hope compels you to see the world as they do. I personally believe writers are happiest when they have writer’s block because at that moment they have no turbulent emotions to pull from, just a calming and peaceful silence. So be happy when your favorite writers aren’t writing, those are the few moments they are truly happy.

AYAFA TONYE

500 LEVEL, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.