This morning, a writer friend sent me a brief note. Basically, she said that it’s difficult for some people to put their writing down on paper as that makes it real.

I really paused over that statement, as it definitely resonates with me and no doubt others – and for multiple reasons. Here are just a few of those reasons:

Before we write them down, our poems and stories, novels and screen plays, are played on our inner screens – and in full color, complete with surround sound and all the other accoutrements of our personal creative studio – including sensations. We can create and recreate our tales with a thought. Edit with our eyes closed or askance. We can experience emotions and sensations moving through us like a wave at high tide or a ripple in a pond.

If we can do all that without writing it down, it makes sense that someone may not want to do so. After all, what if it doesn’t translate from our body-mind to the page in the same way we experience it? What if, once we transfer it to the page, it’s not the same story? What if it no longer feels real once on the page?

There are so many dimensions that can reveal themselves with the stroke of a key, the arc of a pen on paper. As writers, we want to share a story. We do this by revealing truths, sharing triumphant adventures, and exploring our own minds as well as the minds of others. These are all integral aspects of the writing process, and we each handle them in a unique way.

What makes your writing real, and how do you transfer it from your mind to the page?