The power of writing has changed my life. Not only through the words I set on a piece of paper, but through the ones I've read. The truth is that writing has the power to set your mind free to say anything with the knowledge that others may disagree. It can allow you to speak your mind, even when you might be the quietest person in the room.

Writing has affected my life since I was born. My mother gave me the middle name Jo, after Jo March from "Little Women." Following her legacy was never my intention, but ever since I was little and had a pencil and notebook, I've loved writing. Countless times I've begun stories that never took off. Countless times I've left Prince Charming in a tree and never rescued him, but there is one story I've stuck with. A story that may never be published, but that gives me joy to write.

In my love for writing, I want to encourage you to do the same. In order to do this, I will share the powers of writing with you.

1. It allows you to express yourself

Whether you're really into fantasy or enjoy real life dramas, writing allows you to express a side of you others may not see. You can share your deepest desires in poetry, or your new discovery of a species in a scientific report. Either way, you get to say what you want to say.

2. It creates imagination

Creative writing and poetry improve creative abilities. They allow us "adults" to dive into the right side of our brains, which sometimes get surpassed by logic and analytical thought. Writing fantasies, or of "kingdoms far far away," may seem silly, but it allows you to look at a different side of the world. It allows you to see beauty in disaster, because creativity has no bounds.

3. It allows you to travel to new places

Imagination is the key to travel. It leads us to the sunny beaches of the Bahamas, the snowy mountainsides of the Alps, and the steamy canopies of the Amazon. The creativity we see in advertisements and in brochures can change our lives. However, the writing we do ourselves can affect the places we've seen. Researching the Arctic and writing a paper can make us believe we're there, just like writing about a knight in a castle can take us to Middle Earth. It's all in the eyes of the beholder, and the mind of the writer.

4. Finally, writing gives you a voice

It allows you to say what you want and to argue in print for what you believe. It allows you to travel out of your comfort zone and into the life of your character. For someone who is quiet, writing is the one way he or she can be heard. So, we should continue putting ideas, thoughts, and our voice to paper.

There's only one problem with writing, and that's knowing where to start. For me, it was simple: I watched "The Hobbit" and later had a dream. Two years later, I have written over 1,000 pages in six different journals and am still not finished. As I now know the ending of my novel, I get excited when my brain thinks of more. For me, it isn't finishing Chapter 59 that makes me love writing, but it's the strength and confidence I get from knowing I've written 58 others. It's the strength that makes every day more interesting, and it's this strength that I want to share with you.