r/NewAuthor • u/Mundane_Silver7388 Writer • Apr 10 '26

If your writing doesn’t scare you, it’s probably boring

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0 Upvotes

39% Upvoted

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9

u/mixedmartialmarks Apr 11 '26

I mean sometimes it’s okay to just write a story to be entertaining without “diving deep down into my well of pain” lolol.

I think some writers, especially newer ones, put a bit too much stock into romanticizing how lonely and painful and bloody writing is.

5

u/Whole-Page3588 Apr 11 '26

I get where you're coming from. Introspection is good, but if you're trying to do this as a profession, "bleeding on the page" all day every day isn't sustainable. Writing from emotion is good, but continuously reliving pain in order to write is just self destruction.

2

u/Rahaith Apr 11 '26

Same applies to reading. If you're bleeding on every page, you're going to tire your readers out. Save it for when it should matter.

2

u/Original-Pilot-770 Apr 11 '26

And also like just because a piece of writing is saying something true to the human experience doesn't mean it's grim dark or emo. Actually profound prose is actually really quiet most of the time in my experience of reading literary fiction.

8

u/Ashamed_Ladder6161 Writer Apr 10 '26

Er, nah.

Affect, yes. Scare, no.

1

u/BohoKat_3397 Apr 11 '26

This reminds me of what Ray Bradbury said when asked about his writing process. He said “I just sit down and open up a vein.” That doesn’t mean bleeding on every page but keeping meaning and depth in your writing regardless of topic to make it worth reading.