Are you an emotional writer? I am! I used to go for days without writing anything. Let a crisis arise and the words flowed faster than I could write them down.
I didn't realize I was an emotional writer until I was first coming out of 10 years of dealing with agoraphobia. (The fear of leaving your house.) I did a lot of writing in those 10 years, mostly songs. Being stuck in the house that way, I didn't share my songs with anyone but immediate family.
Mom and Dad were always interested in my music and would ask me to share my latest compositions with them when they would come to visit. One day Dad said, "Daughter, the music is beautiful but your words are a little depressing." That took the wind out of my sails. After they left, I got to checking out some of my songs:
"Fear For Today, Fear For Tomorrow"
"Never Alone But Lonely"
"Dear God Please Forgive Me".
And that was only three of the dozens I had written! I was letting my fears and frustration with my phobia flow through my words.
After I got enough nerve to go to a two day workshop at the college on poetry writing, I was excited to actually be sharing my work with others. One of the first comments out of the teachers mouth after reading a few of my poems was, "It's obvious you're an emotional writer. You seem to write when something upsets you or touches you somehow."
Well, there it was again. I had to sit down and really read the things I wrote to see what Dad and the teacher was talking about. Now I have changed the direction of my writing. I still write things out when I'm upset but I also write at other times because I enjoy writing. And I also try not to let my emotions rule my writing anymore.
Karen Sperra
I didn't realize I was an emotional writer until I was first coming out of 10 years of dealing with agoraphobia. (The fear of leaving your house.) I did a lot of writing in those 10 years, mostly songs. Being stuck in the house that way, I didn't share my songs with anyone but immediate family.
Mom and Dad were always interested in my music and would ask me to share my latest compositions with them when they would come to visit. One day Dad said, "Daughter, the music is beautiful but your words are a little depressing." That took the wind out of my sails. After they left, I got to checking out some of my songs:
"Fear For Today, Fear For Tomorrow"
"Never Alone But Lonely"
"Dear God Please Forgive Me".
And that was only three of the dozens I had written! I was letting my fears and frustration with my phobia flow through my words.
After I got enough nerve to go to a two day workshop at the college on poetry writing, I was excited to actually be sharing my work with others. One of the first comments out of the teachers mouth after reading a few of my poems was, "It's obvious you're an emotional writer. You seem to write when something upsets you or touches you somehow."
Well, there it was again. I had to sit down and really read the things I wrote to see what Dad and the teacher was talking about. Now I have changed the direction of my writing. I still write things out when I'm upset but I also write at other times because I enjoy writing. And I also try not to let my emotions rule my writing anymore.
Karen Sperra
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