“What would I tell her today? How would I make him understand?”
Whenever I’m stuck on what to write, I think about one of my friends, and write to them.
If I’m working on a ghostwriting project, usually business-related, I’ll write to a friend who runs her own business. I write so that she would understand the concepts, quickly, and be able to see immediately how to apply it to her own work.
If I’m writing one of these essays, I think of a different friend, who loves writing but sometimes needs a loving nudge to believe it’s possible for him. I write so that he would see the opportunities in front of him and feel confident in reaching for them.
If I’m writing in a journal, I think of my future self, who I certainly hope my present self would be friends with. I write so that she will understand what’s important now, and take the lesson from it, and see how blessed she’s always been.
Writing into the void is hard.
It’s conspicuously quiet out there, and sometimes the feedback you want never arrives.
I think this is why writing gets a bad rap for being lonely. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can write in company, even if only in your mind. Write to your friends. Write to people you want to teach or inspire. Write to yourself.
Whoever it is, it will focus your mind. It will make the words flow easier. Write yourself into a conversation, and it won’t be so hard anymore.