Writing the Darkness

The Hashtags I always use and why

#WriteTheDarkness and #ForTheLoveOfLiterature. If you have ever seen one of my social media posts, chances are you have seen those hashtags gracing the end of every list. I have been using them strictly in everything I do for my writing, and after so long I thought maybe it was time I shared with you why.

#WriteTheDarkness - is pretty much exactly how it sounds, but it is in fact a double entendre. The base intention of this hashtag for me is the fact that I love writing horror, suspense, and thrillers. But it also means something deeper and closer to my own heart. It means writing to save myself from the darkness. It is meant to symbolize the cathartic nature of my writing, as a way to deal with mental health and depression.

There is a saying that depression is a big black dog, and it follows you at all times. In my own experiences, I have found that depression is more like being lost in the dark. Sometimes it is all I can do to see my own two hands waving before my face. In that darkness, I can only see within myself, and it is there that I turn to story to find meaning and to light the spark within myself so that I alone can become the light for myself. That may sound dramatic, but it is a metaphor that best explains how the written word has saved my life time and time again. That is the essence of Writing the Darkness.

I mentioned in the foreword of my collection The Dark Below the Ice and Other Stories that I learned at an early age to turn fear into story because my Mother once told me the make-believe can't hurt you. When I got older and began to learn what depression actually is, and the stresses of being an adult in today's world grew, I found that story could do the same for my mental health as it did my fear. There is a magic I struggle to explain when it comes to pouring your thoughts and fears into words on a page. I think perhaps the best way to explain it is like cleaning a road rash wound in your soul. You explore painful memories and mine them for the feelings that are there, place them into the words on the page, and then somehow the pain inside fades a bit. The traumas, heartbreak, sadness, terror, loneliness, and every other feeling that eats at me is quelled when I write about them.

Not all of those stories become published work. Some of it is simply journal. But that is what Write the Darkness means to me. It is quite literally and figuratively pouring out the dark parts into work on the page. For myself first and foremost, but so that perhaps others may see themselves and their pain on the page, and maybe the trickle of shadow will be a path for them to follow. Maybe putting my own darkness out into the world will inspire someone else to save themselves the same way. So #WriteTheDarkness if you need to. Feel it, explore it, write it... and then let it go.

#ForTheLoveOfLiterature has a lighter connotation, as it illustrates my love and gratitude for the world of literature. It is about the love and dedication to all things involving the written word. Love for me is so much more than passion. It is dedication. It is pain. It is longing. It is also peace. It is meaning. It is purpose. All I do is For the Love of Literature.

Recently, a friend told me I am excellent cheerleader. I took that away after, because in this context she was referring to the way I support and cheer for her writing. For her bookstore. For her place in the literary world that has welcomed me with open arms. I realized that I am that way for everyone I meet who writes. I love books, as I love storytelling in all its forms. By extension, I love those who tell story the same way. It becomes about so much more than simply writing a comic book, or a movie, or a novel. It transforms to include the participation in the industry. The shared elation of a positive review. The excitement of meeting likeminded individuals. The trepidation of taking the stage as a panelist. The fear of public readings.

In a marriage, not every day is one of bliss. There are fleeting moments of true passion, yet they are tossed in a salad of anxiety, sadness, melancholy, joy, and so many other emotions. A marriage is a promise. A partnership that requires steadfast devotion. That is love. All the mess. All the bliss. All the chaos.

#ForTheLoveOfLiterature is a pledge. It is a clarion call that I make as a promise to this world for every step I take into it. It is a tribute to every form of story told from oral lore to video games, and a declaration of love to everyone involved.

When I put these two hashtags together, I am saying to the world that I write to save my life, and I profoundly love all there is to do with story and those who tell it. I am saying thank you for letting me walk among you. So please, if this resonates with you at all on any level, use them too. #WriteTheDarkness #ForTheLoveOfLiterature my friends.