Tag Archives: WritingCommunity

Write It Right About Anger – Joy Writing with Alice Orr

July 30, 2025StorytellingAnger, AuthenticWriting, MentalHealth, WritersLife, WritingCommunityAlice Orr

Write It Right About Anger – Joy Writing with Alice Orr. Anger is a tricky topic for many people. Anger is a tricky emotion. Writing anger is tricky too. Sometimes damned if you do. Sometimes damned if you don’t. Let’s face off about anger.

When Mornings Start with Emotion. Some days I wake up feeling Anger. I may not remember exactly why. I do remember how it feels to carry that state of mind inside me and may want to erase it immediately. But there are other considerations to consider. Especially for a writer.

Ann Lamott on the Value of Anger. In Grace (Eventually) Ann Lamott says. “It’s fine to know but not to say that anger is good. A bad attitude is excellent and the medicinal powers of shouting and complaining cannot be underestimated.”

The Value of Anger for a Writer. Ann Lamott gets it right – especially the part about it not being fine to express anger. She encourages Writing About Anger. So do I. Not everyone agrees. Not everyone makes it comfortable for the rest of us to agree.

Why We Hide Our Anger. When we are hurting our natural anger is often squelched. Our emotional discomfort meets with disapproval from those around us. Their disapproval admonishes us for Expressing Anger – even in our writing.

The Pressure to Stay Positive. Injured individuals are told they must be upbeat and hopeful at all times. They are told they invite trouble and bad outcomes by allowing their anxiety to show. This kind of repression causes more Emotional Discomfort – including for the characters we create.

Permission to Feel is Legitimately Positive. We must let ourselves and others feel whatever we need to feel. Which sometimes includes a dose of being pissed off. Embracing all emotions is key to embracing emotional health and embodying a healthy brain.

Harness Your Disgruntled Energy. Sometimes an outburst of pissed off energy is exactly the fuel that is needed to get you and your characters through a prickly patch or a bad day. You are Coping with Anger in Difficult Times by putting it to productive use of your own time.

Joy Write. Write about a situation where anger gave you the energy or motivation to get through a difficult experience. What were you able to accomplish with the help of that anger energy?

The Virtues of Positivity are Endlessly Espoused. Cliches abound. Keep your sunny side up. Look for the silver lining. Whistle a happy tune. We all spout versions of them. In my Workshops for Writers I say “Attitude isn’t everything but it affects everything.” Less rainbow-tinted wording but still basically “sunny side” “silver lining” “happy tune.”

Positivity versus Authenticity. Attitude may affect everything. But what about when your smile is a lie? What about when you shine your smile because others like your face better that way? What about when you smile because you feel you have to? Write It Right About Anger – Joy Writing with Alice Orr.

Joy Write. Recall a time when you felt pressured to hide your anger or “keep your sunny side up.” How did that affect you? Did you comply or rebel. Tell the story.

The Challenge of Maintaining Cheerfulness. Anger can gain its own momentum and feed itself. Cheerfulness is harder. You wake up in a good mood that drifts away. You try to keep it going but the effort is too difficult to sustain. Sometimes we sulk however that may be received. We choose between Emotional Discomfort and Disapproval.

Joy Write. Write about a morning when you woke up angry for no clear reason. How did that feeling shape your day? What did you notice about yourself and your interactions with other people? How did they react to your disgruntled self?

Facing Life’s Challenges and Challengers. Somebody says “Let me be perfectly honest with you.” My advice? Head for the hills. I wager they have not brought welcome news. Do not stop running until you are a far distance from unwelcome unsolicited challenges. How properly polite we are to call such presumption a “challenge” in the first place.

Writing as Release. A compensating truth. We are writers. We let it all hang out on the page – including our journal pages. We tell our stories however angry or disgruntled or prickly they may be. We are Expressing Anger in Writing. We are Writing Truthfully about Emotions.

Joy Write. Consider how language shapes our experience. How words like “challenged” and “upset” dilute the true intensity of feeling angry. Write an emotional scene using vivid, technicolor language to recreate the anger your character feels.

A Truth about Our Current World. Life has become a slog for many folks for many reasons. Pretending otherwise disrespects all of us who Live with the Anger. We dance with the devil. We struggle to keep in step. Are you Letting Yourself Feel Anger?

Choose What to Do with Your Truth. Tell your Truth in Writing. Publish your truth tales. Or hide them behind a toilet bowl. Or save that choice for another day. Do not be angry with yourself for your anger. Do not forget that there is Hope After Anger.

The Shifting Circle of Support. Anger and Relationships. Some support may drift away. They may need to nurse their own anger. They may need to rest from anger fatigue. Others will remain stolidly in place. There is hope in that. There is strength in that.

Joy Write. Reflect on the people who have stayed with you through the tough, angry times in your life. Make a list of those people. Choose one and write the story of that person’s support and loyalty to you.

Find Hope in Your Honesty. No matter what – you are still here and you are still you. There is hope in that. There is triumph in that. Keep on Writing Your Truth whatever may occur. Write It Right About Anger – Joy Writing with Alice Orr.

FYI – More Writing Prompts and Exercises that Write It Right About Anger.

List the physical sensations, thoughts and behaviors a person experiences when angry. Write a paragraph using these details in the behavior of a fictional character. Write a paragraph using these details for your own behavior in a memoir piece.
Choose a cliché about positivity (e.g. look for the silver lining). Rewrite it from the perspective and attitude of someone who is experiencing a moment or a period of anger. How do the phrase and its meaning change?
Write a conversation between two characters. One is angry. The other insists on remaining positive. Let the tension between them play out in their dialogue.
Set a timer for ten minutes. Write nonstop about a time you felt that your anger was not allowed or was being dismissed as inappropriate or irrelevant. Do not edit or judge. Just let the words come and write them down.
Write two sentences. In one sentence a character tries to suppress their anger. In the other sentence the same character openly expresses their anger. Compare and contrast the two sentences.
Describe anger using metaphors and/or similes. A metaphor example – Anger is a storm brewing behind my eyes. A simile example – Anger is like a storm brewing behind my eyes. Let your imagination fly. Do not judge or edit. Just write.
Write a letter you will never send to someone or something that made you angry at some time in your life. Let the feelings flow. Do not censor your emotions.
Start a Writing Habit. Set aside ten minutes a day to write about whatever emotion is strongest for you at the time – anger or hope or anything in between.

Keep on Writing whatever may occur. Alice Orr https://www.aliceorrbooks.com and https://aliceorr.substack.com/p/write-it-right-about-anger

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

Joy Write with Alice. https:://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Follow Alice on Substack — https://aliceorr.substack.com/

Read Alice’s Novel. She writes it right about anger in A Time of Fear & Loving. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5. Available HERE.

A Time of Fear & Loving

Praise for A Time of Fear & Loving. “Alice Orr is the queen of ramped-up stakes and page-turning suspense.” “Warning. Don’t read before bed. You won’t want to sleep.” “The tension in this novel is through the roof.” “I never want an Alice Orr book to end.” “Budding romance sizzles in the background until it ignites with passion.” “The best one yet!”

Experience Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love and death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About your writer experience. About telling your stories. Ask your question as a comment following this post.

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Lifelong Creativity – Never Too Late to Write

June 25, 2025Writing Career Wisdom#KeepWriting, #WritingAdvice, #WritingExercises, #WritingPrompts, #WritingwithAliceOrr, WritingCommunityAlice Orr

Lifelong Creativity – Never Too Late to Write. Martin Scorsese thinks he may be running out of time. “I’m old. I want to tell stories. There’s no more time,” he says in a FanWire interview. Joy Writing with Alice Orr.

Even Master Storytellers Face Creative Fears. Lifelong creativity is something we can all achieve. But even Martin Scorsese dreads the challenge of time and creativity. He worries about Idea Block the same way you do. The same way I do. We can overcome that. We can Overcome idea block and Writer’s Block.

Why Your Writing Journey Never Has to End. Lifelong creativity is your goal. You want your Writing Journey to go on forever. Longevity is one of your Writing Challenges. Martin Scorsese is right in one respect. No one lives forever. Time is limited. But there is another consideration.

Your Creative Well Never Truly Runs Dry. Imagination is not limited. The light of Artistic Expression burns bright within you always. If you do not believe that – it is Time for a Change of thinking. It is time to think about Creativity at Any Age and Any Stage of Life.

We All Require Encouragement. It is always a good moment for a hopeful change of mind. For you. For me. For all of us. Imagine that you have just met a writer who is discouraged about lifelong creativity. What hopeful story from your own life do you share?

Joy Write. You dropped a writing project once – dropped it for so long you thought it was too late to pick it up again. Then you did pick it up again. What changed your mind? What brought you back to the page? Write the story of that rebirth in your Writer’s Journal.

John Cassavetes on Lifelong Creativity. Another brilliant filmmaker said this. “No matter how old you are, if you keep the desire to be creative, you are keeping the child alive.” John Cassavetes was talking about the Importance of Resilience in Writing.

How to Reignite Your Creative Fire. You may fall off the Motivated to Write path for a while. We all tumble from the crown of the road occasionally. Then we climb back on. Fall Down Seven Times. Get Up Eight. Make this your mantra. Recover your desire to be creative.

Joy Write. A certain quote inspires you to keep writing. You write it down. You post it in your work space. Recall a time when those words inspired you. Share that story with other writers and with us in the Comments section following this post.

Persuade Yourself to Persevere. Take yourself back to the most discouraging period in your writer’s life. If you could write a letter to yourself back then – what would you say? Please allow me to suggest this admonition. Never Stop Writing.

Finding Strength in the Gaps Between Projects. “Are you still writing?” Julia Cameron – author of It’s Never Too Late to Begin Again – gets that question often. “The truth is, I cannot imagine not writing,” she says. “I go from project to project, always frightened by the gap in between.”

Julia Cameron on Beginning Again. Do what she does. She fills the gaps between writing projects with more writing projects. You do the same. Here is what to do when you hit a slump. Find Your Voice again. Begin writing again. Begin Storytelling again. Never Stop writing.

What to Do When Inspiration Feels Lost. You need to get creative and stay creative. You fear the fallow times. This is the remedy for every dry spell you will inevitably encounter. You believe your well of motivation has emptied forever. You cry out “Oh no! What will I do now?” Remain creative anyway. Never Stop writing.

Joy Write. You have experienced this emptied out feeling. No new writing idea was in mind or sight. What did you do to refill your creative well? Tell your Writer’s Journal.

Overcoming Fear. You must overcome fear before fear overcomes you. When you are terrified that your well of creativity may never fill up again you are facing another big Writing Challenge – Fear. What do you do? Go back to the page. Never Stop writing.

We All Experience Creative Fear. You have suffered creative fear in the past. You got through it. What writing fear is most real to you right now? Running out of ideas? Losing your voice? Something else entirely? You will overcome this fear too.

Get Back to Your Writing Practice. You have many New Novels in you – many new stories. Let your imagination fly. Dive in. Make it a deep dive. Plunge into whatever you find there. You are a writer. Writing is a living part of you. You will not lose that. Go back to the page.

Joy Write. You have taken a break from writing at one time or other. Why did you take that break? What brought you back to writing? Write that story – especially the story of your feelings while it was happening.

Writing as Life. Write like your life depends on it because it does. Your writer’s life depends on it. Writing is your access to your fullest life. When you are faced with Overcoming Creativity Challenges – always remember this. You are Joy Writing with Alice Orr. Lifelong Creativity – Never Too Late to Write.

My Journey Back from Creative Silence. This is what happened to me. I published my last New Novel several years ago. A few months later I suffered a heart attack and underwent open heart surgery. Lots of distractions occurred after that. After that I stopped writing novels.

When Fear Threatened to Steal My Voice. Do you remember what I already said about overcoming fear? I hope I did not disregard its difficulty. After my heart attack episode I was afraid my writing mojo had deserted me. Franklin Delano Roosevelt said we have everything to fear from fear itself. I discovered how right he was.

Joy Write. You have suffered self-doubt and fear about your creativity. What caused that to happen? Write about how you overcame doubt and fear and returned to your writing life.

The Value of Hitting Your Wall. I was afraid I could no longer focus sufficiently to build a book. I was afraid I could no longer create the kind of characters that populate and propel a powerful plot. I was afraid I was no longer a Storyteller. I hit my personal confidence wall. That collision was my come-back signal.

Remembering What You Have Already Struggled Through. I had forgotten I was a heart attack survivor. I had forgotten the peril I struggled through. I was blessed to be alive. I should no longer be afraid of anything. I had forgotten what a powerful story that was and still is.

Joy Write. You have experienced difficult times in your personal life that impacted your writing. Remember the worst of those times. How did you nurture your creativity and keep it alive during that period? Tell your Writer’s Journal your moving story.

The Secret Power of Small Creative Acts. I hit my wall and stopped writing fiction. But through the years that followed I picked away at story possibilities. I filled many five-by-eight-inch cards. I took volumes of notes. I annotated articles about everything from everywhere.

Your Creative Journey Happens One Step at a Time. Think of a single small creative act you can commit yourself to this week. Don’t wait for an explosion of inspiration. All you need is a spark. Light it up one page at a time. That is all it takes to make Joy Writing your life.

Persisting on the Page. I scribbled unsatisfying pages. I knew they were unsatisfying. I also knew I had to save my writing life. The secret that saved me was writing things down. It will save you too. Never stop writing something – anything. Get back to the page.

The Power of a New Beginning. I began a new novel. The first book in a new Romantic Suspense Series. I shuffled the notecards. I added to the notebooks. I reread the articles. I stared into space and lost myself in imagining. I wrote satisfying pages. I was Joy Writing again.

Joy Write. You once started something new and unexpected. What surprised you most about doing that? How did it turn out? Share your inspiring story.

You have Everything You Need to Begin Again. I made my miracle happen. My Writer’s Voice told me my pages were satisfying. The editor that lives inside me told me they were good. I wrote myself through creativity challenges. You can do the same. Make your miracle happen.

How We Write through Life’s Challenges. I am a Writer. You are a Writer. Life will always present us with challenges. Meanwhile – you are Motivating Yourself to Write Again. You are Reclaiming Your Creativity. You are Joy Living – Joy Being – Joy Writing. Never Stop Writing.

Joy Write. You do believe in lifelong creativity. You know you have been given a wondrous gift. When and how did you first become aware of that gift? Tell your Writer’s Journal.

The Beautiful Truth About Being a Lifelong Writer A writer never retires. You take a vacation. Maybe even a long one. You return eventually to your pages. Otherwise you feel lost. Otherwise your personal GPS slips out of whack. Otherwise you will not find your destiny – your writer’s life road.

Your Personal Story of Lifelong Creativity. You are also a veteran of the creativity wars. You have survived your own struggles. Share your story. What does Lifelong Creativity mean to you? Tell us in the Comments section that accompanies this post. Help us be Inspired.

Joy Write. You have struggled through episodes of feeling stuck as a writer. What advice do you have for a writer who is feeling stuck right now? Share it with us. We are your writer friends.

Your Next Chapter is Always Waiting. This is the promise of lifelong creativity. Your right writing road is always around the next bend. Your Writer’s Journey never ends. Your creativity is always with you. Your imagination is always with you. You are Joy Writing with Alice Orr. Lifelong Creativity – Never Too Late to Write.

FYI – Writing Prompts and Exercises that are Never Too Late to Try.

John Cassavetes said, “If you keep the desire to be creative, you are keeping the child alive.” Write a letter to your younger self about the importance of keeping creativity alive at any age.
Maybe in the morning, set a timer for ten minutes. Write continuously about anything that comes to mind. Do not edit or judge. Let your thoughts flow. See where creativity leads you.
Challenge yourself to write something every day for a week. It can be as simple as a few sentences or a list. At the end of the week, write about how this practice has affected you.
Create a character who faces a major setback. Write a scene where they find to strength to keep going.
Think about the value of noodling – jotting down ideas, notes, or fragments. Write a short piece inspired by a random note or idea you have saved at one time or other.
Write a gratitude list based on your creative life. What are you thankful for as a writer? How does creativity enrich your life?
Contemplate the quote, “Fall down seven times – Get up eight.” Write about how it applies to your own writing life.
Imagine you have unlimited time and energy. What stories would you write? What creative risks would you take?
Write about your personal journey with creativity. How has your relationship with writing changed over the years?
Write about what you hope to find “around the next bend” in your writing journey.

Keep on Writing whatever may occur. Alice Orr. https://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

Joy Write with Alice. https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Follow Alice’s Substack at https://aliceorr.substack.com/

Read Alice’s Novel. A Time of Fear & Loving. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5. Available HERE.