Posted by Welcome back to our periodic series, You Write Like an Animal!
Since it’s AAPI month and the year of the dragon, we decided to do a special edition of You Write Like an Animal in the spirit of things. Dragons bring a lot of things to mind: magnificence, ferocity, and a love of treasure. Perhaps it’s true that all of us are a little bit in awe of this fantastic, mythical creature. But even if it doesn’t exist in real life, there’s no reason you can’t channel one in your writing!
You might write like a dragon if…
You hoard your gems of wisdom in a document for later.
Sometimes, we have little flashes of inspiration for a great line to write, or a piece of an argument that comes to us out of nowhere. Like Tolkien’s Smaug, some writers tend to write down those valuable thoughts in a notebook or a notes app and save them for use later…no matter when that “later” turns out to be.
You get sudden inspiration out of nowhere, and then the words coming flying out like fire.
One of the most accepted aspects of the dragon is, of course, that they can breathe fire, and when they do, it is something to behold! Likewise, when you’re struck with inspiration, it can feel like there’s fire flowing through your fingertips and into the keyboard, incinerating that enemy once known as writer block.
You write chaotically and without structure, just like a dragon that can’t really be tamed.
While there are many stories about people riding dragons into battle, it’s also widely known that at their core, dragons are wild beasts that can never truly be tamed or owned. Their behavior can be unpredictable and surprising…just like your writing practice, which may be spread out over several documents and in no discernible order. But it always gets done eventually, and in spectacular fashion.
And most of all, you’re confident in your own abilities, just like a powerful dragon who’s got the strength to back it up!
Not many people can withstand the mighty dragon when it decides to display its full abilities. There is a reason that this creature inspires so much awe and admiration–it’s powerful and intimidating, and everyone knows that if you’ve got a dragon on your side, there’s no way you can lose!
All images, unless otherwise specified, are from giphy.com.
The Write Attitude 