Victoria Downey
When I was a kid, I would write all the time. Short stories, journals, poems. If I had any slightly relative thought or idea, I’d grab a notebook and jot it down. I now have pages filled with stories of young heroines, and a particular poem where I made a list of animals, and state that the only difference between them and myself is that they don’t go to school. While these may seem useless, and I often consider throwing them away, they give a peak into what I as thinking at the time. Today I write about what I am genuinely concerned about, quotes I find particularly interesting or an idea I’d like to expand on. When I run out of thoughts, I simply repeat a word or phrase. Sometimes I write pages, sometimes I write a sentence. What matters is that I took the time to write. Taking time to understand what I’m thinking has allowed me to get a glimpse into my motives of certain actions I may not have thought of while going about my day. It has allowed me to get to know my own weaknesses and strengths.
Math and science teach you about the world around you, writing teaches you about yourself. I’m a firm believer that in order to understand what’s going on in the world, you have to understand what’s going on in your head. That’s hard to do, and that’s where writing comes into play. Write what you feel. Sometimes you’ll be surprised by a phrase you write, and your thinking will expand to dimensions you never knew existed. Sometimes you’ll have nothing to say, and that’s okay. Spend some time relaxing. I think best in absolute silence, a cup of lemon tea with a touch of honey and sugar within my grasp. Learn what you need to do in order to learn.
You don’t have to be an eloquent speaker to be a writer. You just have to have the determination and desire. Ernest Hemingway was a firm believer that the first draft of anything was never any good, but with journaling deciding to go past the first draft is entirely up to you. You have the power, as it is your thoughts and actions you’re writing about.
So write. Write about good things, write about bad things. Write about the weather. Write about your day. You never have to read it again, you never have to tell anyone about it or share it if you so choose. Take the time to get to know you. Nothing is as special as watching yourself develop as you learn about the world.
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.
- William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
When I was a kid, I would write all the time. Short stories, journals, poems. If I had any slightly relative thought or idea, I’d grab a notebook and jot it down. I now have pages filled with stories of young heroines, and a particular poem where I made a list of animals, and state that the only difference between them and myself is that they don’t go to school. While these may seem useless, and I often consider throwing them away, they give a peak into what I as thinking at the time. Today I write about what I am genuinely concerned about, quotes I find particularly interesting or an idea I’d like to expand on. When I run out of thoughts, I simply repeat a word or phrase. Sometimes I write pages, sometimes I write a sentence. What matters is that I took the time to write. Taking time to understand what I’m thinking has allowed me to get a glimpse into my motives of certain actions I may not have thought of while going about my day. It has allowed me to get to know my own weaknesses and strengths.
Math and science teach you about the world around you, writing teaches you about yourself. I’m a firm believer that in order to understand what’s going on in the world, you have to understand what’s going on in your head. That’s hard to do, and that’s where writing comes into play. Write what you feel. Sometimes you’ll be surprised by a phrase you write, and your thinking will expand to dimensions you never knew existed. Sometimes you’ll have nothing to say, and that’s okay. Spend some time relaxing. I think best in absolute silence, a cup of lemon tea with a touch of honey and sugar within my grasp. Learn what you need to do in order to learn.
You don’t have to be an eloquent speaker to be a writer. You just have to have the determination and desire. Ernest Hemingway was a firm believer that the first draft of anything was never any good, but with journaling deciding to go past the first draft is entirely up to you. You have the power, as it is your thoughts and actions you’re writing about.
So write. Write about good things, write about bad things. Write about the weather. Write about your day. You never have to read it again, you never have to tell anyone about it or share it if you so choose. Take the time to get to know you. Nothing is as special as watching yourself develop as you learn about the world.
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.
- William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream