When having a particularly "bad" mental health day, I know different people will turn to different things in order to release the emotion. Some will go on a walk, some will listen to music, some will read, some will spend time by themselves or with family. For me, it's cracking open Word and writing a drabble or two, or opening Blogger.
In a creative writing sense, I choose to write over any of the other methods above because it gives me a method to escape my reality and push myself into another one where I am its creator (that sounds SO deep in my head, christ). But for a blogging sense, I used it as an escape from my own life and to write things that I hope will be of help to others.
Sometimes I'll write things reflecting my mood, which tends to be an 'upsetting' piece, or one where you just want to hug the main character and pet their heads and other times it's something very lovely and the opposite of how I'm feeling. It really varies sometimes,
Yes, you all know me as a blogger and the reason I started blogging was to write my thoughts and feelings down somewhere so they were out of my head, but I also wanted to reach out online for help - hence why chloetommo is a thing. However, I'm going to talk about both writing my blog as well as writing for a creative purpose by answering some questions from you all!
Do you ever get writer's block?
For my blog, I do from time to time. Sometimes I get ideas for things but I can't physically get them down, or by the time I get around to doing it, my idea is gone. However, for creative writing, I actually don't get writers block at all. I have ideas for little drabbles all the time and make them up sometimes in my head and I'm like 'oh, this actually could be decent'.
Have you always enjoyed writing?
Yeah, definitely! For as long as I can remember I've loved it. In school, I was always better at English than any of my other subjects, and I used to write in the Tumblr "roleplaying community" (For those of you who don't know, this isn't a sexual writing thing at all. It's basically a community online where you join a group with a blog as a character of your choice (you have to do applications 50% of the time, other times it's "appless" where you use basic info.)
Basically after that you post to the dashboard as your own character and you interact with others as their characters to and build stories/connections from there - quite fun really!). I did this from the age of... Maybe 13? Since then, it's really sparked my interest for writing even more.
How do you feel knowing your personal experiences are online?
It doesn't bother me at all. I get to choose what I release publicly and what I keep to myself/on my Word documents. I see my blog as an open book (for majority of it, as there's one thing I really don't think I can share online as of yet, or at all if I'm honest) where I post my real life and 100% truthful experiences with so that it can helps others in terms of feeling like they're not alone.
What would you say to others who are considering writing about their MH online?
For them, I'd say that if you want to publish something publicly about something and aren't sure because of reactions, don't hold back. Your content is what you want it to be and I know that if you write about a personal experience, what you'll get is support, love and a community that'll love you and be there for you. My comfort levels for posting things about my mental health online has risen so much, and that's due to the increasing amount of love, support and friends I have within the blogging and MH community.
At the same time, I'd also say to not push yourself into writing something you're not okay with doing. I know seeing posts of other's experiences may influence you to write about yours, but if your not comfortable to press that publish button - don't force yourself!
Do you prefer creative writing or blogging?
It's difficult to say because with blogging, I use it for a mental health perspective rather than any other perspective, so it feels 100% serious all the time, which I don't mind at all. I prefer how freelance I can be with creative writing, since I can literally write about anything I want, whereas with my blog, I'm... Not restricted per-say, but I only tend to discuss one thing.
Do you find it easier to discuss things behind the security of a character?
(This actually took me a few times to write, oh lord).
I do sometimes, it depends. Before I started to blog, if I was writing a character which had my past experiences, or one of them and it was being published out for people to see that I didn't know, I'd prefer it to have been behind a character. Purely because I didn't want the judgement of people knowing what had happened to me. Taking this from perspective of now, I prefer writing as myself and posting it out there because I'm more confident in myself and I'm happier to let people know my struggles so they feel like they're not alone, as well as that there's always light at the end of the tunnel and it isn't bad forever.
Are you always fully open about your MH online or do you sometimes hold back some of the more personal things?
I've been 100% open besides one experience as I don't think I can physically bring myself to tell you all about it. I've only recently told my counsellor about it and he's the first person out of family and my boyfriend who knows about it, and it's also taken me 10 years to be able to tell someone out of that circle.
Honestly, I'd love to talk about it as it's a serious issue and has really affected my mental health since I was 10 years old, and being nearly 20 I do want to share it, I just don't think I can bring myself to do so just yet.
Before finishing this post, I started to write a drabble yesterday and I know some people do want to see how my writing is, so I thought I'd share the start of the drabble with you. It doesn't really give much away as to what its about (and maybe if I get motivation, it could be a complete book thing), so I apologise in advance for it being dry.
Outside looking in
Part 1
Watching the vinyl spin around on
the bright orange record player in the corner of the room was the only source
of entertainment for Belle at that present moment. One song after another by Train
soothed her as her eyes burned and cheeks tear stained. Ironically, listening
to happy songs was a way of venting for her, since slow and acoustic songs
would just bring her down again. That, and it was a vinyl of an album her
father loved a lot. The voice of Pat Monahan wrapped around her brain and
hugged it gently as the weighted feeling in her chest slowly disappeared.
Ever since her father passed away seven
years ago, everything changed. As a child, to everyone, she was the happiest
little girl ever who treasured her father’s love every single second of the
day. They were inseparable, unless her father had to work, of course. Sometimes
he worked from home and Belle would follow him around like a puppy waiting for
a treat or as if it was lost – it would make her father smile. The image of it
has been imprinted in his daughter’s brain all her life. They were both the
best of friends and if in school they were talking about best friends, Belle
would always say her father. Little sniggers here and there would surround the
girl, but she didn’t have a care in the world.
Sometimes while she dreamt, Belle had
nightmares of that night. Her father and her in the car on the way home from
the cinema. They had both gone to see Iron Man 2, and the excitement levels
were high on Belle’s behalf. Superhero films were her favourites, especially
since her father had got her into them from a young age. When they were driving
to meet Belle’s mother after her shift in the hospital, the weather was not at
its finest. The rain was very heavy and not that far in front of the car could
be seen. It definitely was not driving weather, but Belle’s father didn’t want
his wife to be walking home in the rain. That night ended with an oncoming car
swerved into their lane. That was the last time Belle had ever seen her father
smile. The last image she had ever gotten of the man she had idolised in her eleven
years of life was of blood on his face and glass shattered all over him.
“Belle?” A voice asked softly from
the doorway. The brunette sat up on her bed to be greeted with the view of her
mother. She looked exhausted. “I just got home and wondered if you wanted to do
something tonight?” Her mother asked. In all honesty, Belle wanted to. She
wanted to bring herself out of her depressed slump and into the life of
optimism, like she was as a child. However, all she wanted was to curl up in
bed with her eyes closed and pray the nightmares went away for the night. The
paused became longer and her mother looked down at the floor with a silent
sigh. “I’ll take that as a no thank-you, then?” She asked. Belle kept her eyes
on her mother and shook her head. “No, it’ll be nice to do something for a
change.” The brunette replied, shifting off her bed and going to turn off her
record player and put the vinyl back in its pristine sleeve. Every time she
did, it felt like she was shutting her father away.
I really hope you enjoyed reading this post, and hopefully my writing doesn't suck as much as I think it does!
Disclaimer: Header image is not mine, it's a free stock photo!
Feel free to follow me on Twitter: @chloemtommo, Instagram: @chloetommo and Bloglovin.
Have an amazing day!
Have an amazing day!
Another great post Chloe! I use writing as an escape too me it calms me down and lets me get things of my chest. Really enjoyed reading that short story x
ReplyDeleteI know the feeling, it's why I like using it as my form of escape and relaxation! Thanks so much lovely!
Delete- Chloe
xoxo
It sounds like writing helps you a lot lovely! I think everyone needs that escape, just to get away from everything. I really enjoyed really this and I love you opening up with your Mental Health, I'm sure from your writing you've helped a lot of people!
ReplyDeleteGemma | www.anoceanglimmer.wordpress.com
It really does, it's therapeutic but also really fun for me - plus I never see it as a chore or anything like that. I'd like to think I've helped, but if I haven't then it's something to strive for!
Delete- Chloe
xoxo
Chloe this post is amazing! I'm taking a college writing class and we read about reading and writing. It taught me that writing isn't usually as popular as reading, but it can be helpful for a variety of reasons. I'm glad you like to write, I hope you continue to love it and share it with us.
ReplyDeleteLupe || lupehtrejo.wordpress.com
I use it as a mindfulness technique, as well as the fact I just bloody love writing! Thanks so much for this, lovely! I hope my writing will get better for the story as time goes on.
Delete- Chloe
xoxo
This is such a wonderful post! And loved reading that short story, hope there will be more to read ;) Love, Larice
ReplyDeletehttps://hilarice.wordpress.com
Thanks lovely! I'm planning on writing a bit more very soon since I like the plan I have for it.
Delete- Chloe
xoxo
Thank you for this post! I find writing can be quite therapeutic! I used to wonder if I felt comfortable displaying my life through a blog but like you said, I get to reveal the parts of my life I want to reveal
ReplyDeletewww.hettyash.com
I do too, I've loved it for so long and I like using it to let my feelings out! Yeah exactly, you get to choose the parts you want to reveal.
Delete- Chloe
xoxo
Another wonderful post. I know I'm new to your blog but I love how open and genuine you are and I can't begin to imagine the number of people you must be helping.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really important to normalise mental health issues, and to increase understanding. I have several friends who have dealt, with and still deal with issues, and it annoys me greatly when they get told they should just snap out of it, you wouldn't dream of saying that to someone with a physical illness. So thank you for sharing your experience.
Also sorry for causing difficulty with my awkward questions!
No difficulty at all, lovely! I'm so glad you like my posts, and welcome to the blog. I'd like to think I'm doing some form of good and giving some form of help to someone out there! You're welcome lovely, it is pretty annoying when we're told to get over it. If we could click our fingers and make it go away, we would!
Delete- Chloe
xoxo
This is an amazing post Chloe! I see you used some of the questions I asked you ;) I also loved your creative writing at the end. You're very talented! Love you xxx
ReplyDeleteI did, I did! Really glad you liked this post lovely, it means a lot. Also I'm glad you liked my writing, I felt kind of anxious about posting it so I just decided to go with it. Love you too girlie!!
Delete- Chloe
xxxxxxx
I always enjoy your posts Chloe! Writing has always been my escape as well. Keep up the great work love! Your writings are such an inspiration! :)
ReplyDeleteAw thank-you so much for this comment, Demi! It means a lot.
Delete- Chloe
xoxo