For all that we writers sometimes cuss, moan, groan, and fret over writing, writing is one of the most enjoyable activities I know. Yes, we face deadlines, and yes, there are times when we are hit with writer’s block, and there are times when we have to call a friend, desperate for help: “I can’t think of a word!” You know the word you want is out there, but you just can’t call it to mind—and it’s frustration city! So yes, there are downtimes and frustrations.
But still and all, writing is fun. It’s creative. It’s satisfying.
Which brings me to the point of this week’s blogpost: Not everyone has the talent to sing at the Met, but many of us sing in the shower just for fun. And not everyone has the talent to be a published writer, but why not write just for the fun of it?
What are you going to write? You can write poetry—limericks (raunchy or clean), doggerel verse, haiku, or more intricate forms. You can write children’s stories to tell to your kids or grandkids, the neighbor kids, or whatever captive audience you can round up. You can make up stories just for the fun of it—short fiction that you don’t expect to ever see published anywhere. You can write greeting card sentiments and make handcrafted greeting cards with your own from-the-heart sentiments in them. (Much more impressive than Hallmark!)
You can revive a tradition of the Old West and tell tall tales in a group of assembled tall tale-spinners, each trying to outdo the one before. You can gather a group to make up ghost stories and share them. (Campfire and marshmallows are optional.) Oral storytelling has a long and respectable history. (But why not get your stories down on paper or computer, too, to preserve them?)
Writing—whether literally written down or just spoken aloud—is a lot of fun. So go ahead—sing in the shower, and write just for the fun of it!