Discovery writing shouldn’t happen by accident—here, take these three ways to do it on purpose

As writers and storytellers, we’re always searching for… something.

We’re always trying to figure out new techniques to use in our writing and make it better. Or we’re looking for new and exciting ideas to use in our stories. Or we’re hunting for inspiration. Or trying to find beauty to put in a poem.

Or, simply, waiting for a peaceful moment to sit, and think, and dream, and discover something new…

The anticipation of discovering something amazing about a new story was about as addicting to me as the feeling you get in your stomach when you’re riding a roller coaster—that sort of nervous excitement that stews inside of you just before the first drop.

Sure, I loved it. Writing would be a lot less fun for me without that feeling. Yet, despite that, I couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong with the whole situation…

It came down to this: was I really okay with the best parts of my stories coming about completely by accident?

No. No I was not.

“Learning” how to write poetry is easier than you think…

I used to always say that I wasn’t a poet…

And I had good reason to say that because, well, I wasn’t.

I didn’t know how to write poetry…I didn’t even understand what poetry was!

But that never stopped me from trying to write them.

In the early days, I tried dozens of times to write a poem that I could be proud of. Love poems (of course), fun poems, meaningful poems, angry poems, sad poems, poems to show how frustrated I was at not being able to write poems… I made lots of attempts, but never produced anything I could consider a success.

I would get frustrated, because even after all of these attempts, I could never figure out what I was doing wrong or why my poems never turned out right.

As far as I knew I was going through all of the right motions: I was following the proper rhyme schemes, I had proper meter, I even had fancy sounding words thrown in there just to make the poem as pretty as possible. Yet, I still had a problem; because everything that I wrote, just, felt… off.

Well, as it turns out, there was a reason for that: I was focusing on all the wrong things. And, as with most brilliant breakthroughs of this nature, I finally discovered this completely by accident. All it took was a freak moment of extreme inspiration.

Ramblings: Writing Poetry

Eyes closed, mind open, thoughts focused, pen wondering—it’s exploring beauty, and I’m writing poetry.

I breathe in. My lungs fill themselves with cool morning air. By the smell of it I can tell that there was rain last night; by the feel of it I know the fog has yet to burn away. I breathe out.

Writing poetry is like that. It’s like breathing. If I think about it too hard it doesn’t seem quite right: it’s irregular, unnatural, forced; and, somehow, even though I’m going through all the right motions, it still feels like I’m suffocating.

So I don’t think about it; and I don’t force it. I let the words flow as they will. I feel the rhythm of language rises and falls as an intricate pattern of words and the sounds they make comes to life.

One of the most useful tools for self motivation that you should have in your toolbox.

There we were—a basketball team with a roster eight men deep shallow, and hardly a true basketball player among us—trying to compete against schools much MUCH larger than us; all of which were able to field teams with rosters filled to the brim by hardcore, true blooded, diehard basketball players.

The whole situation felt suspiciously like the setup to your typical disney-channel-esque basketball movie.

You know, the type of underdog story where the little guy rises up against all odds to take home the big trophy. By the end of the season, though, it didn’t turn out that way; we didn’t come in first; we didn’t take home the trophy…

But we did come in second.

Most people would have never thought that a basketball team made up of non-basketball players, from a school so small that nobody had ever heard of it, would have been able to take second place in our league.

But that’s because most people didn’t know about our secret weapon.

What secret weapon, you ask? What could possibly take a team like mine and turn us into a basketball team from an almost-disney-channel-esque basketball movie?

We were really good at pretending.

Are you even good enough to be a writer?

I spend a decent amount of time on online writing forums.

It’s a great feeling to be able to interact with and help out other writers directly. I love being able to read what they’re working on, and give the occasional piece of advice or input. For someone like me, these communities of writers are like some sort of heaven…

But the best part about frequenting these forums? The other users are always asking questions…

Lately though, I’ve noticed a very annoying question popping up more and more often.

Am I good enough to be a writer?

Seriously? Are you good enough? You have to be joking.

Of course you’re not!

Strong bodies and strong minds

Sure, you’re lying on your back, desperately gasping for breath, vision swimming, heart pounding, probably dying… But somewhere in the back of your mind you’re standing tall.

Pride swells your chest as you look back on the pain you endured and the hurdles you leapt to earn this moment. And you find yourself thinking… “Yeah, I just did that.”

I absolutely love that feeling.

It’s a reward well worth the pain invested to receive it.

But these days, I don’t workout just to keep my body strong or to get my “feeling of accomplishment” fix. It’s nice to feel strong, don’t get me wrong, but these days I mostly workout to make myself a better writer.

Don’t follow? Let me explain…

How writers keep writing when their muse is dead

The muse is dead; and with her, your desire to write.

You no longer feel the urge to tell that story in your head. You no longer feel the need to get the words out. You have no interest in putting in the work required of a writer; because, well, the underlying motivation that inspired you to start writing in the first place, is gone.

This isn’t like writer’s block where you know exactly what you want to write, but don’t know how to go about doing it; although, it’s just as dangerous, and just as difficult to deal with. This is like a punch to the gut that knocks all of the creative energy out of you.

With writer’s block, you stare at a blank screen and a blinking cursor; but when the muse dies, you’re not even motivated enough to sit in the chair—and that’s not even the worst of it all. The worst part this is how sudden this can come on.

There is no warning, no indication that something might be wrong; you simply wake up one morning to discover that your inspiration, drive, excitement, and motivation to write are, just, gone.

What else could it be? Your muse is dead.

The words that magically make you a better writer

What made the Knights Templar special?

Is it that they were better trained than the average foot soldier? Is it that they had better equipment? A proper war horse? Was it simply in their highborn pedigree? Something in their blood that just made them superior to those around them?

Nope…

Sure, their equipment and training gave them an edge in battle. That’s not what makes a knight special though. A common spearman could potentially distinguish himself in battle, despite being less trained and under equipped, and earn knighthood for himself. Not likely to happen, but it could.

So then what was it? What set the Templars apart and made them one of the most respected military orders in history?

The answer is so simple that you might miss it entirely:

The Templars had a code.

Yup, that’s pretty much it.

Oh, sure, they were decent fighters, and they were also respected for their prowess on the battlefield; but following this code is what set their order apart from the rabble. And as a result of keeping the code, the Templars elevated themselves to legend.

The bad news is that the order eventually fell despite their code.

The good news is, we writers have a chance to learn from these knights and replicate their success (earning glory, respect, a sense of pride, and potentially, a livable income doing what we love) without repeating their failure.

All we have to do is to follow a code of our own.

The number one plain, simple, and easy way to improve your writing

There is someone out there, right now, who want’s to read what you write.

There is someone out there, right now, who needs your words. Maybe they need them to escape, or maybe they need them to relax; but whatever their reasons, one thing holds true: they are relying on you.

Okay, that sounded a little dramatic. No, this isn’t a life or death situation here. But sometimes, in order to get yourself motivated, that’s how you have to think of your writing.

Somebody out there needs to read your story. If they don’t get it, you’ve let them down.