Emotional writing.

 I am not talking about those times when you let emotion rule what your write (drunken texts being a prime example). Those incidents when you go back to your blog think good grief, I was down that day! And yes I know I can be just as guilty of that as anyone.

What I am talking about with emotional writing is when you are writing about something that is so gut wrenching that by the time you have finished it. You are exhausted and drained. You have lived every moment of that chapter. This is what I have done today. I have written a stand alone chapter that fits in my PhD novel. It is about an 11 year old girl called Saba (btw I have named the girl in the picture Saba too). She lived in Afghanistan until her Dad was shot. Then she and her Mum had to escape because the Taliban wanted to kill them too. Their sin - Father was a teacher who secretly ran schools for girls at nights and her Mother was a doctor, no longer allowed to practice but she would secretly run clinics for women who needed to talk to a woman.

The chapter is the story of her journey to 'freedom' in the boot of cars and the backs of lorries. However, her Mother dies during it. She is left alone. The people traffickers see a good use for her. A young virgin. There are men around who would pay a lot to play with that.

I am wrought with emotion. The story has literally just fallen out of my fingers through the keyboard and on to the screen. I have been thinking about it for quite a while but today was the day I was going to get it down. I can't go back to it yet. It is too raw and new. In a couple of days I will. I need to distance myself a bit from it.

But don't worry she is safe in the end.....but I'm not telling you how, you need to read the story ;-)

That's what writing can do. It can take you over, every part of you is living that story. It is real in your head. It is exhausting yet exhilarating. Who else can live two (or more) different lives? It is one of the pleasures and occasionally miseries of being a writer. But I wouldn't change it for anything. Enjoy your writing today, tomorrow or whenever you next get a chance to sit and imagine.