About Writing

Most people talk about things that bother them as a way to vent their emotions, another way is through writing. As I sit writing in my car, I ponder how much writing, in itself, has helped me become the person I am today. I have endless amounts of pages filled with poems, stories, and sometimes random blurbs. Writing is a window into your soul. The simple action of writing has benefited me; by helping me to achieve a better memory, helping me to learn and grow intellectually, and helping me to communicate my emotions.

When writing with the purpose of expanding my memory I find it best to write in a quiet place alone. Keeping a journal, for dreams and to recount each day, helps me articulate what has happened so that I have a better chance at remembering it later. Each morning after I wake up I grab my journal and pen off of the floor and write as much as I can about the dream I had. By mid-day I might remember other bits and details so I go back and write in the fragments with lines and arrows connecting the missing parts. Towards the end of the day I plop on the couch and write freely about anything. I express how certain things that happened that day made me feel and an overall summary of the day. I write my dreams, hopes, and aspirations in ink to show that though they are permanent they continue to grow with the turning of each new page.

Writing in school or for a newspaper article helps me to grow intellectually. Papers structured in such a way that I have to research, think, and then write about a topic, that I may not have known much about prior to the instructions, cause me to use much more of my brain than writing for myself. Reading history books and writing down reminder notes helps me to learn the information, same with taking notes in any class. Writing a paper based on true information that requires research uses and expands the brain muscles. The largest difference when writing for education is that it should be re-read and edited, by oneself, a peer, a teacher, or all. In Stephen Kings' essay “On Writing” he discusses the importance of editing ones own writing quoting his first editor John Gould many times. King explains one of the most important lessons that Gould had taught him, writing ever so simply, “write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open. Your stuff starts out being just for you, {...}, but then it goes out” (King 445). Using Kings advice I found that writing and editing my own work is much easier. The first time I write it is for my eyes only, I like to call it the 'raw' draft. After I finish the raw draft of only my opinions and words I mark it up and rewrite it as my first draft, adding in quotes as back-up and explanatory sentences. I conduct research and check for any mistakes, then I let it sit for a day so that my brain has time to rest and prepare for the second draft. During the second draft I tie up loose ends and double check my resources, assuring myself that the information I am providing is true. Once I believe my paper is finished I have a peer critique it and talk with them about any changes I should make. During the final draft I use the notes from a peer to look through my entire paper as a whole and re-structure anything that needs fixed. The entire process causes me to grow more as a writer and helps me absorb more information.

Using writing as an outlet to vent my emotions is something that happens, not something that is planned. I have tried to sit down and write an emotional piece when I wasn't feeling that emotion and it just didn't work. With time I have learned that the most honest pieces are written by the heart. When something happens that causes me to feel an extreme amount of emotion, or if I write about something I feel strongly about, I tend to just write. I don't look back, or re-read parts as I write it just all comes flowing out. Rushing onto the page before I can comprehend what I'm writing, these words come from the deepest parts of my soul. Once it's written and I read it, it's almost as if I'm reading something spoken to me from another. The emotions in the words, the detail given in explanations, the hurt and sorrow revealed, the refreshing feeling of just getting it all out. Writing an emotion piece is the storm, reading it is the calm the follows. Author Ralph Fletcher in his book Poetry Matters explains “a poem is like an X-ray of what's going on inside you”(Fletcher 14). Fletchers' entire book is an explanation of why and how poetry matters to each person whether reading or writing it. Poetry was my outlet as a child, and still is. After years of abuse I was depressed and suicidal, I couldn't talk to anyone about what happened to me or how I felt. I turned off my emotions and managed to black out my past. The light would flash on from time to time reminding me of each assault. Writing saved my life. Once I learned to put pen to paper it spilled out of me. The burden of my past on paper staring back at me showed me I was still alive and could feel.

Authors note:

Word Count (excluding note): 939

Most importantly, Thank you so much for reading! Sharing my writing on Vocal has been an amazing journey that is only just getting started. I hope you subscribe and enjoy my wandering ways. Dabbling in different genres but always thought provoking.

If you could please take a moment to comment what you do or don’t like about this piece I would greatly appreciate it. I believe constructive criticism leads to growth!

You may also enjoy my poem “Burnt Into The Light Of Day”