I watched ‘Elf” over the weekend and it got me thinking about the limits society places on us. Deep stuff huh? Who would have thought Will Ferrell could provoke this line of thinking? In fact, comedy can be very insightful, zoning in on our fears, what causes embarassment, what makes us feel ridiculous. I’m not sure why we care when the people’s opinions that really matter to us can often be counted on one hand.

It seems that inhibitions are learnt somewhere along the way from childhood to adulthood. The phrase ‘you can’t do that’ is key. The reaction of our peers to certain behaviour and opinions is also a factor. Nothing makes a child feel more left out than everyone laughing at them. But there is also a point beyond teenage years and young adulthood where you can stand up and say: ‘I can do this’ and this is the point I feel I am at with my writing.

I’ve always enjoyed experimenting with different genres / writing styles and publishing my own work allows me to do this. I’m currently writing a Christmas themed short story (as mentioned in my previous post) and I’m finding it very challenging. I’ve written it in a humorous fashion and I think this helps to prevent it from descending into syrupy schmaltz. But still, with Christmas it’s hard to avoid getting sentimental. I haven’t quite finished it yet (and yes I know it’s nearly Christmas eeek!) so I don’t know if I will achieve the necessary balance of wit, wisdom and festive cheer. I hope so and if not, I’ll keep trying because writing is a constant learning experience and I love it. 🙂