My Journey as a Writer
I have always felt rejected when it comes to writing. I have never thought of myself as a creative person when it comes to writing and the grades I received in school confirmed that. I remember in elementary school I never did well in writing. My grades in writing all through school were not something I was pleased to have. I often wondered why I was not good at writing when others could write effortlessly. I remember feeling envious. I struggled in all areas of writing, essays, stories and even poetry. I often marveled at the idea of being a first-class poetry writer. I would sit at a typewriter in my bedroom and pretend I could write poetry like Shell Silverstein. It made me feel good.
My parents rarely empathized with my struggles. To them my grades were not acceptable. They constantly pushed me to do better. They did not understand why writing was so hard for me. I felt discouraged. I was doing my best. I just did not understand the structures of writing. I could take someone else’s story and make it into my own words, faking it. That got me by for a while, but eventually I lost all interest in trying to write until Junior High.
When I was in seventh grade, I got a diary as a Christmas gift. My first thoughts were I do not need a diary, I cannot write. A close friend of mine encouraged me to write in my diary.
She said, “A diary is a great way to write what you are feeling or thinking without criticism. She told me I did not need to worry about punctuation or making sense. Just write whatever came to mind or whatever happened that day or who I had a crush on that week.”
I felt energized at the thought of being able to write whatever I wanted without worrying about being graded. I could not wait to get started. I remember sitting in my bedroom staring at the pages. I could not think of one thing to write about. It felt like my brain hit a brick wall. I thought this could not be...