Creative writing helps me cope with the stress of daily life. It is a break away from the real world that I need, it allows me to be more creative with what I do.
Autism means that I can’t write as well when I am stressed or not feeling myself. Therefore, my creative writing during these times will be focusing on my fanfiction and what other people have created. My fanfiction links to my special interests as I resort to my interests during school or when I can’t think of my creative writing projects.
What helps with my Creative Writing?
As the stress levels reduce and the end of school is in sight, my creative writing improves. I feel happier, and I feel that this comes out in my creative writing than when I am at school. During this period, I will write about my projects and plan them more. An example of this is the planning that I have for my speculative fiction novel is seventy-five pages long. The plan includes detailed character profiles and what goes on in each chapter. Planning makes me feel calmer as all of my writing is in one place and I have enough detail.
My writing becomes more creative when I am allowed to be myself than when I am not. When I become stressed, the quality of my writing reduces as I am worried about something else. If my stress levels are high, I will abandon a writing project for some time to resort to my fanfiction. Fanfiction is safe territory for me as I know everything as someone else has created it. I’d rather write fanfiction during times like exams rather than planning something new and stressing about it.
No matter what happens, I feel safer when I write because the only person I can hurt with my writing is myself if it is unpublished. I usually write to entertain myself and to advance the imaginary world that I have created in my head. Creative writing is my way of escaping the world, and it proves effective as my writing improves every time that I write.
Sometimes, my creative writing becomes intriguing. One example of this is my character, Emma Smith-White, that I have created for my Sarah Jane Adventures fanfiction. She has stayed with me for years, so I decided that she deserves a story of her own.
If you want to find out more about my special interests, visit https://sarahboxwell.uk/special-interests/
If you want to read my fanfiction, you can find it on https://www.fanfiction.net/u/6003317/CeriseHood5050 and https://www.wattpad.com/user/CeriseHood5050