Let Go and Write

I have been meeting with a fellow writer buddy and it is so much fun to nerd out on writing! His name is Will Bowman and he is crazy about writing, specifically screenplays. You should check out his website, BowmanStudios, and see his films, interviews, poems, and all that he works on! He also interviewed me and goes deep into my stories/poems and the mind behind them (scary!). You can read my interview by clicking here.
It was through our conversations I've found that writers find it difficult to simply write. If you don't have that dilemma, great! More power to ya! But, if you do I want to help! Before we begin, you must trust me. Trust me for I will ask you to retrain your mind to think in ways that are not usual. Just trust me.
The art of letting go and writing is like a Samara Warrior sitting on a grassy hill, eyes closed and legs crossed in peace, just before battle. It is a letting go. A surrender. A state of mind that takes you out of you and into your epic tail.
The first thing you must come to grips with is that you are just the writer. That's all. You are a chronicler and you write only what happens or has happened. You did not come up with your story. Your characters are not made up people. The story really happened, in a different time, in a different place, but DID it happen. Your characters are real, or were real, as you and I. They lived. They breathed. They are anything but 'made up people'. And you are just the writer. You played no part in their adventure, therefore you do not get the credit for their success. You only write down what took place. The thought of a writer in supreme, God-like control is silly. I understand it, yet doubt it. You are not the god of the tale, you just write.
Because you are just the writer, the characters become so much more important. You do not control them, instead they show you what must be written. You must let go of control and allow your characters to be themselves. Do not force them into saying or doing what you would say or do. They are not you. They are their own, individual person and should have the freedom to be themselves. You must learn who they are deep down. (Read How to Make Unrealisticness Real, How to Write an Epic Hero and Villain: Part 1, and  Part 2 to learn how to write effective character development.) Give them space and let them breathe! Do not hover over them like an over protective mother because you snuff out the life and uniqueness of the characters' true selves. It is vital for the characters to be who they are. What I mean is let them grow and develop on their own. Do not put them in a box. Do not tell them 'no'.
But you are afraid. You are afraid your characters don't know the story you have in mind so they may mess it all up! They could go off, be themselves, and destroy everything you have planned!
Do not worry. They know what you want. They can see it too. Let them be free to go off and be themselves, but gently guide them back to the plot's structure after they had their fun. In every story, each character who you deeply know should stray from the plot's structure from time to time. Not far, mind you, but far enough to show their true colors. If no characters in your story stray now and then, something's wrong. You have to tight of a hold on your story and are not letting it grow into a great tree that towers above the world. Let it grow. Let your characters grow.
Lastly, relax! Stop thinking about the publisher! Don't stress which word would sound better! Don't worry about what your readers will think! Just write! That's what writers do and I know you do it well. Relax. Turn off your editing brain and save it until after the story is written. When you write, all that is in the world is your characters, the adventure, and you. Allow the words to trickle from your imagination, down your arm, and onto the pages. Don't let you get in the way of you. We can be our worst enemies sometimes, I should know!
What I've said today is a bit odd, I will admit. But it works. Turn off that side of you that says characters aren't real, that you didn't pick the right word for that sentence, that no one will read the story you have in mind, and other nastiness that we won't bother mentioning.
You can do it. I know you can. Let go. Go into your story. Walk the roads your character walks. Feel their world and forget ours for a time. Go have fun! But first. . . .
. . . .let go.