Write when You’re Cranky

You know those times when you successfully bite your tongue on a whole lot of things you shouldn’t say? I won’t reveal what kind of record I have on that tally sheet, but I will say that when I do manage to not talk, I stay up that night as the repressed emotions radiate out of my body at the rate of 1/100 of a degree per minute.

There’s a shortcut out of this: journal writing.

Maybe I shouldn’t make and keep a running record of my worst moods, but if conflict is the core of fiction, then I have a great store of material that illuminates some awful, embarrassing, human reactions to what happens in life.

If this happens to you, I suggest the following: write down (and then password-protect) all the things you knew better than to say. After that, write down what you wished could have happened. Then maybe throw in some realism. Make grandiose plans. Admit limitations. Get depressed; write about that. Then stop.

Write when you’re cranky.

But write down the beautiful moments, too.