Writing is hard. I’m sure most of you have thought this once or twice in your life, whether it was writing a school paper or an application essay. I’ve always loved to write I would keep journals during every camping trip and family vacation from the time I could write. However, I never thought I could be a writer.
In the past few months I’ve learned a lot about writing. It’s something you must practice, if no one reads what you write you won't improve and sometimes it takes you out of your comfort zone.
Let me give you some background, books have also been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. Any "Junie B. Jones", "The Magic Tree House" or Disney book would take me on these amazing adventures when I was a child. The stories had such a big influence on my childhood. They would allow me to travel to new times and places to teach me about the world. They also evoked passion and emotion that I hadn’t felt before.
As I grew my love for books grew, too. I found my favorites like "Harry Potter", "Alice In Wonderland" and "The Great Gatsby"; I saw the social and historical impact these books had. I never thought I could reach people like these books, and found myself thinking that I would always be stuck as a mediocre writer. This was a terrible mindset.
This past semester, I took a class called Introduction to Media Writing. One of the first things my teacher said to the class was, writing is not a talent you’re born with, it’s something you practice, and oh boy did we practice. Over the course of the semester, we wrote a total of 30 papers.
That was my first big lesson about writing. People say, “I’m not a good writer” all the time, but what they are really saying is “I don’t have the motivation or passion to improve my writing.” I think of it kind of like sports; if everyone had the same passion for basketball that Michael Jordan had it would change the game. Everything isn’t for everyone, and that’s ok.
With each of the six major papers we wrote for the class we were required to see our school’s editing center to get our papers edited. This was where I learned my second big lesson: if no one reads what you write you won't improve. This is something I still struggle with today because I’m insecure with my writing.
I would walk into the editing room with so much anxiety and self-doubt it was crippling. The editor would read my paper, laugh or compliment my use of words and that was probably the most satisfying feeling I’ve ever felt.
As I started to write this article, my second published work, I was scared. That’s where I learned my third big lesson about writing: sometimes it takes you out of your comfort zone.
Let’s face it; writing is a personal outlet to express ideas and emotions. As I look forward to my future writing some works will be more personal than others, and I’m not an open book when it comes to my life.
Overall, I think writing is a great tool for everyone, whether it’s published or in a personal journal. If I keep practicing, getting feedback from others and step out of my personal bubble maybe it’ll take me to some amazing places.
