I feel the same way – I find writing pretty easy when I'm excited, and pretty much impossible when I'm not feeling good. this reminds me of sasha chapin's ethos around creativity (from his writing course), where he emphasizes an anti-grind mindset, and that if the writer didn't enjoy writing it, the reader won't enjoy reading it. (fwiw, I did actually enjoy this essay lmao)
Haha thank you! I'm intrigued by the extent to which writing / art "bottles up" the emotions of the maker so that they are felt later by the audience. That seems intuitively true but I feel I need to think about it more
I find that anger can transfer into physical energy but not mental or cognitive energy. So no good for writing or thinking clearly on other topics, but great for rage cleaning the house or frustration weeding the garden.
I’ve had such a similar experience. There’s that trope of the tortured artist, whose creativity is an expression of their pain, but I’ve found my best writing feels effortless, easy, when the words just flow. A layup not a half court shot.
I thought this was very relatable, interesting, and well written . And I agree. I can’t paint anything nice when I am angry. The art reflects it and I hate it.
Most of my writing is inspired by reading. If I don’t have any ideas it’s usually because I didn’t read enough ideas to react to and think about!
Even then, I agree it’s much easier to write something I’m excited about, not angry about. Anger posts just add another one to the pile and don’t do a lot of good for people. Except spark more anger!
Anger can be a strong driving force when it comes to taking action to correct issues in the world. However, when it is directed towards the intellect, anger tends to hinder rational thinking as it prioritizes physical action rather than engaging in productive conversation or debate.
If there are issues that can be resolved in the world via a reasonable action, people should utilize anger as a catalyst to spur action, but afterwards, they should let go of it and embrace tranquility because by that time, the action has been taken, which is the very thing that the anger was originally motivating us to do instead of just stewing over it.
Instead of effectively addressing their anger, individuals often either suppress their emotions and refrain from taking any action, or react in an irrational and disorderly manner, rendering their efforts futile and causing them to persist in their state of agitation.
Thank you for saying this. So many 'gurus' say that anger can lead to creativity and inspiration but it never does for me. I'm heartened to read I am not the only one.
That was fun! Shorter, but not sub-par, really ;) - though your other stuff IS even more exciting. - Anger does not make me produce much - usu. just an arrogant answer to some dumb quora-question (in German. they seem mostly dumb), only feeding my Ärger.
I feel the same way – I find writing pretty easy when I'm excited, and pretty much impossible when I'm not feeling good. this reminds me of sasha chapin's ethos around creativity (from his writing course), where he emphasizes an anti-grind mindset, and that if the writer didn't enjoy writing it, the reader won't enjoy reading it. (fwiw, I did actually enjoy this essay lmao)
Haha thank you! I'm intrigued by the extent to which writing / art "bottles up" the emotions of the maker so that they are felt later by the audience. That seems intuitively true but I feel I need to think about it more
I find that anger can transfer into physical energy but not mental or cognitive energy. So no good for writing or thinking clearly on other topics, but great for rage cleaning the house or frustration weeding the garden.
That's a great point!
I’ve had such a similar experience. There’s that trope of the tortured artist, whose creativity is an expression of their pain, but I’ve found my best writing feels effortless, easy, when the words just flow. A layup not a half court shot.
Loved this :)
I thought this was very relatable, interesting, and well written . And I agree. I can’t paint anything nice when I am angry. The art reflects it and I hate it.
Most of my writing is inspired by reading. If I don’t have any ideas it’s usually because I didn’t read enough ideas to react to and think about!
Even then, I agree it’s much easier to write something I’m excited about, not angry about. Anger posts just add another one to the pile and don’t do a lot of good for people. Except spark more anger!
Anger can be a strong driving force when it comes to taking action to correct issues in the world. However, when it is directed towards the intellect, anger tends to hinder rational thinking as it prioritizes physical action rather than engaging in productive conversation or debate.
If there are issues that can be resolved in the world via a reasonable action, people should utilize anger as a catalyst to spur action, but afterwards, they should let go of it and embrace tranquility because by that time, the action has been taken, which is the very thing that the anger was originally motivating us to do instead of just stewing over it.
Instead of effectively addressing their anger, individuals often either suppress their emotions and refrain from taking any action, or react in an irrational and disorderly manner, rendering their efforts futile and causing them to persist in their state of agitation.
Thank you for saying this. So many 'gurus' say that anger can lead to creativity and inspiration but it never does for me. I'm heartened to read I am not the only one.
Heh, it seems to be the opposite for me. Most popular posts of mine have been written when I was frustrated and annoyed :p
Good for you then! Maybe!
So, so true!
That was fun! Shorter, but not sub-par, really ;) - though your other stuff IS even more exciting. - Anger does not make me produce much - usu. just an arrogant answer to some dumb quora-question (in German. they seem mostly dumb), only feeding my Ärger.