The Lazy Yogi

weareoneearth asked: Every time i sit down to write I get scared it's not going to be good enough. I think of an amazing idea for a story or a poem and it sounds great in my head and I get scared it wont sound good enough on paper. I don't know if I'm scared that I wont like or that other people wont think it's good. But it's killing me

Then you’re writing your stories for the wrong reasons! Never write to be good enough. Write because you are good enough. Better, even. Write to discover how fucking good you actually are. 

I studied creative writing all throughout university and I can tell you that there’s two parts to writing anything: having something to say and having a relatable way to say it. 

No one can write what you can. There’s a multitude of voices in everyone. When you start to let go of your own personality, you start to see them as a collective more vividly. Part of writing is discovering the voice that you already have—and then letting it ring out. 

Your fear is coming from fixation on the future, the result. You want to compare your work and judge it. And maybe you will put your work in a place to be judged, for an audience. But this is only a distraction during the creation. Art is the non-existence of judgement and the full expression of direct experience. 

You need to be entirely present for the act of writing, in your mind and in your fingers on the keys. The less judgmental you are, the more craziness you can access from within, things you never knew were there. 

Think, listen to music, listen to the silence, and write. Have an idea of what you are writing and why and what sort of audience it would be for. But give it room to grow, to discover its own style and feel. 

Inspiration will come when you invite it without intending to brutalize it through criticism. As they say, “Write drunk, edit sober.”

Namaste :P