How do you know if your writing can become a story?

Question

Hope this is the right forum to be asking a question!

I have been writing every since I can remember, my stories, writings, letters, poems, lessons and emotions were captured from as young as 14, I wrote as a means of expression.

I struggle linking emotions to feelings, I struggled to feel the emotions I had inside me, they would continue to haunt me, as they were stuck inside my time capsule within my fragile body. Clawing away at my insides leaving scars, if I had the ability to allow myself to feel, maybe they wouldn't be so lasting. So writing began when I decided to write about how as a confused teenager, I dealt with deceit and lies, as the anger seeped out of my words I began to release, the weight lifted and a calming sensation overcame me, that was how I felt! I used words to feel my emotions, never to relive them again. So I have many writings and little nuggets of raw pen to paper, showing a depth in my soul I never understood as real.

I want to consolidate my writings, create a story about my journey. About how I made it through, and how I truly felt as I was at each stage. Is this possible? Can spotted and raw words be re captured in a flowing story about life? Can it be rewritten?

I worry only because I cannot read my writing, once it's on the page it's no longer mine and reading it makes me uncomfortable, and at times even, makes me dislike my writing because I don't feel that way anymore. Can I use this as a means of doing something I can be proud of calling my own? Showing others for the first time my insides, my brain, my deepest thoughts... So maybe one person may realise, they are not alone.

Any opinions welcome, even the ones who say I may need help! Haha

Answer 1

You could try blogging.

Blogs can be about anything (including yourself), and generally don't have to follow a coherent sequence. You can blog every day for a week and then leave it for a month, which could fit when you feel you need to release your feelings into a written format.

It also means that you don't have to go back and read what you've written, which you would generally have to do in other forms of writing. Once it's done, you submit the blog post and never look back.

It also may help others: if you're expressing all of these emotions in a written form, and then perhaps it could help them to process their own emotions, especially if they, too, realize that they are not alone.

There is also the anonymity that comes with online posts. If you're worried about how others may react to your work, then you at least don't have to associate your identity with it (at least not straight away), and see how it is received by others.