It’s funny how often writers and people alike joke about the pain and suffering fictional characters go through, of how pain elicits greater resonance in the context of a story.
It isn’t until real life begins to take a turn for the worst where writers, and people alike, fail in demonstrating the same level of fortitude as their characters. Even though fictional characters have immense fan bases and have inspired millions of people to strive for better and take pride in overcoming adversity. But, like the saying goes, it is easier said than done.
Life has a peculiar way of playing out. It always seems that in the best of times the worst things happen. Like a loved one dying on Christmas Eve or day, like a getting into a tragic accident on the way back from a family gathering, a plane crashing with your friend onboard after you’d just said goodbye to them a minute ago, etc.
It is often in these times that pain becomes a writer’s entire world and begins to consume them. They fall into an abyss and become passengers in their own lives, a shell of their former selves living their lives on autopilot while the world moves on and they are stuck in a painful and tragic past.
A piece of their soul is missing and there is no pleasure or material thing on earth that can ever replace it. The things we lose in the blink of an eye bring about a lifetime of pain that time doesn’t completely heal but simply smooths over enough so that we can continue to live with the scars.
Thus, it is the same with a story and fictional characters. . .
Most individuals go through a stage of victimhood and utterly fail to find solutions to their situation. And the funny thing about life is that there are no solutions for situations and events that take a piece of your soul and cause you to die inside.
And here is the essence of the title of this post. . .
To the writers that celebrate bittersweet holidays and remember the loved ones that were lost. To those who still grieve that part of themselves that existed before painful events took place. To those who feel they can never heal for the scars life gave them, who look at the holiday season as something bittersweet and mournful. . .
It is in the writing where you’ll find some solace. It is in the stories of others overcoming adversity where you will find the strength to push through the dark times that ail you. It is the intricate worlds you get lost in that will inspire you and reignite the flames that make you a creative, for there is no creativity without pain and suffering. . .
They are are very metrics by which we improve as humans, which is why the only interesting stories are painful.
Embrace the pain you go through this holiday season, embrace the struggles you face and release all the tensions and pent up frustrations onto the page. Make the blank screen the canvas for whatever is left of your soul and create something beautiful from the despair lest it destroys you from the inside.
All in all, for those who go through hard times. . .write.
It doesn’t matter what, just write.
Even if the world doesn’t believe in you, you must believe in you. Because without you. . .
what is there?
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