You’ve broken the rules. You’ve tossed out “show don’t tell,” let adverbs run wild, and ignored your inner editor for the first time in ages. So what now?
Now, you go even deeper.
Day 3 of our 5 Days to Embrace Your Writing Joy is about leaving perfectionism behind and learning to chase curiosity instead. Because joy isn’t found in flawless prose — it’s found in the questions that won’t leave you alone.
The Creative Trap: Writing to Get It “Right”
If you’re like most writers, you’ve been trained — by workshops, books, school, or social media — to write with one main goal: make it good.
That sounds fine until “good” becomes a wall you can’t climb. You revise as you go. You second-guess every idea. You delete a sentence the moment it lands on the page. Suddenly, you’re not writing anymore — you’re performing.
And performance isn’t joy. It’s stress.
Curiosity > Perfection
The solution isn’t to lower your standards.
It’s to shift your focus.
👉 Instead of writing to impress others, try writing to discover something.
Let curiosity lead the way. Ask weird questions. Follow strange threads. Get interested — not in being good, but in being fascinated.
What Happens When You Follow Your Curiosity
When you chase what’s weird, surprising, or personally compelling:
- You stop hesitating — because curiosity isn’t afraid of being “wrong.”
- You generate more ideas — because you’re asking better questions.
- Your writing becomes more vivid and strange — in a good way.
- You get into flow faster — because curiosity keeps you moving.
3 Ways to Practice Writing Curiously
Here are three simple ways to invite curiosity into your next writing session:
1. Ask “What If…?”
This is one of the most powerful creative tools available to any writer. Try:
- What if my character’s dream last night actually happened?
- What if my setting shifted one degree toward the surreal?
- What if a memory someone has… isn’t theirs?
Let the question lead the story.
2. Freewrite Without Editing
Set a 10-minute timer and go.
No backspacing. No fixing typos. No rereading. Follow the strange idea, the awkward sentence, the tangent that seems like “too much.” You never know what you’ll find until you don’t stop yourself.
3. Use Open-Ended, Playful Prompts
Skip the structured, serious prompts and try something that gives your imagination space to run. A few examples:
- Your character finds a door underwater.
- Something in the mirror doesn’t reflect what it should.
- An object in your kitchen starts talking — and it’s not happy.
Final Thought: You Don’t Have to Impress Anyone — Not Even Yourself, But I Bet That You Will Impress Yourself as Soon as You Stop Worrying About Perfection
When you stop trying to be brilliant and start trying to be interested, everything shifts.
You’ll write more.
You’ll worry less.
And the joy will creep back in, one question at a time.
Curiosity is the real secret to sustainable creativity. Follow it — and let the writing take you somewhere unexpected.