The Wild Voice Within: Trusting Your Instincts in Writing
Writing From the Untamed Center of Yourself
Let’s begin here: You’re deep in a forest. The air hums with life—branches creak, leaves whisper, and somewhere close, something moves. You can’t see it, but you feel it. You don’t know where you’re going, but you take a step anyway, trusting the pull of the path beneath your feet.
This is what it feels like to write with your wild voice. It’s instinctual, untamed, and deeply intuitive. You don’t know where it will lead, but you trust it to take you somewhere true.
The Wild Voice Within
There’s a voice inside you that doesn’t care about rules or expectations. It doesn’t hesitate. It doesn’t ask for permission. It’s the part of you that writes from the gut, from the bones, from the untamed center of yourself.
For so many of us, this voice gets buried. Maybe it’s the fear of not being good enough, or the pressure to write something polished and perfect right out of the gate. Maybe it’s all the times someone told you to “tone it down” or “make it more marketable.” Whatever the reason, the wild voice within us goes quiet.
But here’s the thing: it’s still there. Waiting. Whispering.
Writing with your wild voice isn’t about getting it right. It’s about letting go. It’s about trusting the raw, instinctual part of yourself that knows what your story needs before you do.
Writing From the Wild
The hardest part of writing isn’t finding the words; it’s trusting them. Trusting that the half-formed sentence you scribble at midnight has something to say. Trusting that your messy, chaotic draft is leading you somewhere worthwhile.
Here’s your invitation:
Think of a moment in your life when you acted on instinct—without overthinking, without planning. Write it down.
What did it feel like in your body? Was it fear? Freedom? A little of both?
Now, apply that same energy to your writing. Let it be raw, messy, alive.
The wild voice doesn’t care if it’s perfect. It only cares if it’s true.
Play Invitation
Set a timer for 10 minutes. Start with this line: “I don’t know where this is going, but I’m listening.”
Write without stopping. Let the words tumble out, even if they don’t make sense.
Follow your instincts—whatever image, memory, or feeling rises to the surface, go with it.
Don’t edit. Don’t judge. Just write.
The goal isn’t a polished piece. It’s to hear your wild voice, loud and clear.
Lessons From the Wild Voice
Your wild voice is the part of you that doesn’t need permission. It’s the part that writes the story only you can tell—the one that doesn’t fit into neat categories or follow anyone else’s rules.
But trusting it takes practice. It takes courage. Because writing from your wild voice means letting go of the need to control. It means surrendering to the process and trusting that the path will appear as you walk it.
The Reader’s Role
Here’s the beauty of writing with your wild voice: it doesn’t just resonate with you—it resonates with your readers. They feel the rawness, the honesty, the risk. They recognize it because it’s something wild in them too.
When you write from your wild voice, you invite your readers to do the same. You give them permission to be messy, raw, and real.
Your Turn
Your wild voice is waiting.
What happens when you stop trying to control the story and let it lead you instead?
What does your writing sound like when it’s untamed, unedited, and instinctual?
Take a step. Trust the path. See where it takes you.
About Me:
I’m Rena—a writer, educator, and relentless explorer of stories. Originally from Southern California, I’ve spent the past 20 years making my home in Costa Rica, where I live with my husband, two children, and a pair of Rhodesian Ridgebacks who refuse to acknowledge their size.
My writing has appeared in places like Brevity Magazine, South Florida Poetry Journal, Five on the Fifth, New Flash Fiction Review, Headland Literary Journal, and more. Along the way, I’ve collected more rejection letters than I care to count—a badge of honor for any writer chasing the next story.
I’m also the Founder and Director of an International K–12 school in Costa Rica, a space where my love for learning and writing collide in exciting ways. At my core, I believe in the power of ideas, in listening for what’s unsaid, and in finding beauty in the unexpected. Stories connect us—and together, I believe, we’re better.
Come write, wonder, and explore with me.