Most of us are familiar with the popular late 90’s show "Sex and The City." As a writer, the main character Carrie Bradshaw awes me in many flawless ways. Aside from my admiration for her daring fashion style and close-knit group of girl friends, she has taught me a few things about how to be a writer even in the toughest of times (we all know writer’s block.) Not only am I a writer but I also live in New York City, making her my perfect role model. Going to Sunday brunch, reading the paper, having a closet the size of my dorm room, and simply writing for a living sounds like the perfect life to me. On top of all this, she leads a very exciting love life, which makes for some great TV. This leads me to wonder, how do I get to that point of relaxed success in writing?
I struggled for a long time with considering myself as being a “writer.” The title sounds very ostentatious to me because I think of writers as being big name authors such as J.K. Rowling or Arthur Miller. Writing for Odyssey has not only helped me channel my inner writer, but identify myself as a writer and allow me to seamlessly flow my ideas onto paper and publish them to an array of beautiful people. Being a writer is much more than sitting behind a computer and typing away or writing on paper and crumbling it up and throwing it out a million times only to start all over again. Being a writer is the privilege to get your ideas out to people and make the thoughts in your head come to life in other people’s heads.
Writing comes from the creativity in the right side of our brain. Some people consider themselves to be left brained and others consider being more on the creative side, the right side. Some people, like me, identify as both. Even if you do feel like you love crunching numbers and thinking analytically, you can still be a writer. Here are a few easy tips on how to channel your inner writer:
Find your style.
Just like clothes, we all have different writing styles. Figure out what yours is and it makes it that much easier to get your ideas out in your own words. This might help you with writing papers for classes and other assignments in academia, as well. Once you identify with your writing style, the words just flow out.
Make real life connections.
Use your own life experiences to guide your thoughts and creative ideas. Turn these experiences and observations into words and you can tell a unique story.
Use writing as therapy.
Had a bad day? Write about it. There’s nothing more therapeutic than writing your feelings down and reflecting on them. Writing is very relaxing and you’d be surprised how much goes on inside your head.
Read more.
Whether it be a novel, the news, or even just blurbs on someone’s blog, reading can immensely improve writing. Any great writer will tell you that in order to enhance your written language, you must take the time to read.
Be confident in your writing.
Often times people struggle with the thought of others reading their writing. The truth is, writing is unique in that we get to read people’s thoughts and words in our own voices and connect with the writer. Getting your thoughts and creative ideas out to other people can be freeing and you never know who is going to simply adore your writing.
