I fell in love with writing in my junior year of high school. My English teacher, Emily, is a freelance writer (you can check out her commissioned pieces here) and used to make us write for at least five minutes in class every day, give or take. She insisted it was important. Some days she gave us a quote to reflect on or a specific topic to write about. On other days, there were no rules. The only rule was that we had to keep our pens on the page, even if we were scribbling words along the lines of “I have absolutely zero clue as to what I am doing right now and why I am here”.
At first I didn’t know what to write about. I have always enjoyed writing, but I rarely had the chance to just sit down and write. I stuck to Emily’s prompts, and as time passed, I drifted further and further away from the given prompt to explore my thoughts on my own. Writing became my therapy, and eventually, the bane of my existence. I wrote on the days I could feel, and on the days I couldn’t. I wrote for the chance that I could be more than what I scribble on the page. For a couple of minutes, I got to be someone I can’t be. I could enter a world of ideas and immerse myself into the language through the eyes of someone else. I could soar with the words, going from one side of the page to the other and tied together by possibilities, hopes and dreams without constraints.
Writing has changed my life. It has given me a voice to speak up and write about the issues that matter to me. I have this goal to use my writing to change someone else’s life, even if I change my own. I know I can do this, one day, because I write.
I hope you will get to experience the magic too. Here is my advice for aspiring writers:
1. Read a lot
opinion section on the New York Times and other short pieces that catch my eye.
opinion section on the New York Times and other short pieces that catch my eye.2. Just write
Try “free writing”. Writing can lessen your fear of having a blank page. Don’t know what to write about? Write about your lunch, the weather, or the newest episode of Scandal. The only thing that matters is that you don’t stop writing.
3. Get feedback
Talk to your teachers about your writing. Join a writer’s class or club. Try to get advice from a large group of people. You might end up finding some writing buddies, or even better, a mentor (cheers, Emily)!
4. Always keep pen and paper by your side
You will want to write down that idea you dwell over for hours for later use. Ideas come at the most surprising times, so it is always good to be prepared and jot down words, phrases, and images that come into your mind.
5. Be honest
And your readers will thank you for it. Show your readers who you really are, what you love, and what matters to you. It is okay not to be perfect – your readers aren’t and they don’t expect you to be, either.
