“Writing is not a race. No one really “wins”. The satisfaction is in the effort and rarely in the consequent rewards, if there are any.”
Joyce Carol Oates
There is so much that can be (and has been) said about writing. It is hard. It is a labor of love. It is survival. And I’ve found all of the above to be true. Still, I remember a time when I was young (and very much in love with the concept of escapism), and writing was one thing and one thing only: fun.
I’ve come to believe that at some point, however brief, in most aspiring authors’ lives, they’ll look up from the keyboard and think, “this doesn’t feel fun anymore.”
Of course, I could be wrong and making an assumption based solely on my own lived experience, but judging from the multiple forum threads and endless stream of “how to put the joy back into writing” articles, I’m inclined to believe I’m not exaggerating.
The realization can be a sobering one. It certainly was for me. But rather than despair, I opted to remedy the situation the only way I knew how: to keep writing anyway. Though this time around it would not be for validation, or accolades, or producing something worthy of submitting to some journal, magazine, or competition, but simply for the sheer joy of it. Simply for experiencing the familiar thrill brought on by the act of creation.
A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a carousel of writing advice quotes shared by the folks behind The Hope Prize. Among them was an isightful gem that further supported that decision. It was a quote by American writer Joyce Carol Oates.
Oates remarks that the satisfaction, the enjoyment, that comes with writing does not come from reaching some predetermined finish line (there is no finish line, really) but from the act itself.
It’s when we lose sight of that truth, and instead create some false finish line for ourselves in the name of wanting to feel accomplished or successful, that we lose that sense of enjoyment. That writing stops feeling fun.
Relearning How to Have Fun Writing
“Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open. Your stuff starts out being just for you, in other words, but then it goes out. Once you know what the story is and get it right — as right as you can, anyway — it belongs to anyone who wants to read it.”
Stephen King
For me, fun writing has always involved dreaming up immersive worlds that are easy to get lost in: a planet with two moons colonized by spacefaring humans, an underground society of modern-day knights, an elaborate Caribbean-inspired continent teeming with magic and alchemy.
The days when I would spend hours on Fanfiction.net or Archive of Our Own, both reading and coming up with my own fanfics, were also some of the most enjoyable.
In both cases, I spent my time not consumed by whether or not my writing was “good enough” but rather wholly committed to one thing and one thing only: creating, simply for the fun of it.
As the year draws to an end and the days get shorter, I find myself wanting to return to those days more and more. And so, of course, I will. Whatever comes out of that, whatever I do with the things I write for the sake of bringing whimsy and fun back into my craft is, to quote Nell from The Haunting of Hill House, confetti.
