Being a Writer

I have always loved to write.  I started writing short stories and poetry as a kid, then longer stories and I have even tried my hand at writing songs.  As a young college student, I used to write pretend speeches for a politician or leader, trying to exercise the things I was learning in school.  As a student now, I am constantly writing.  I can easily write a couple thousand words a week for school alone.

But there are definitely days when I can sit there and stare out the window and feel like I have nothing to say.

Those moments don’t come along very often, but they always frighten me when they do.  I begin to wonder, “Am I done?”  The last time, I texted my sisters and told them I’d sprung a leak – a writer’s leak!  My creativity well was empty!

But I think the one thing I have realized is that people with passion always have something to say.  If you asked me to list the things I am passionate about, I would probably hesitate, because I don’t know which to name first.  But then I’d get on a roll and never stop: faith, fitness, family, marriage, poetry, politics, current events, health care, leadership, productivity…and the list goes on and on!

So, when I find myself panicking that I have said all that I can say, I examine my passions.  Some topics I could dedicate an entire blog series to discussing.  Sometimes, I just sit and read poetry and all of the sudden, I am inspired with my own idea.  I can flip through the news websites and find something to interest me.  I can think about the people that I know are struggling with something and write something to encourage them.

I hope that most of what I write is meaningful, but even on the days when it is merely doodling down my ideas, at least I am writing.  I am keeping it flowing.

After a long hiatus from poetry writing, I started up again this June.  I was inspired by the fact that I had published my own book of poetry, which ended with a poem I wrote in 2013.  But then I realized how much I have grown since then, how many ideas I have had, and new experiences, questions about life and new blessings discovered.  On June 4^th, I sat myself down to try my hand at writing a poem.  Since then, I have written over 80 new poems, and I am so proud of them.  I cannot wait to share them with everyone.

My first major as a college student at the age of 18 was Professional Writing.  In my very first semester, I took a class called Classical and Modern Rhetoric and the text for that class was a series of essays, speeches, and excerpts from books, including ancient writings all the way up through modern essays, arguments, and advertisements!  I always imagined myself writing something to someday be included in a book like that. 

One thing is for sure, I will never write anything that will be included in a book like that if I don’t write.  So I will write about my passions, and find new ways to express how I feel about them because that is the only way to even begin to hope that I will.

And I encourage my writer friends to write.  As Jeff Goins states, don’t call yourself an aspiring writer.  If you write you are a writer – so be one!