This is another one of those writing holidays that slipped under my radar. It takes place every year on November 15th and people are encouraged to give writing a try, however little or a lot, to experience the joy that can be writing.
According to Holiday Calendar, "I Love to Write Day" says one of the many benefits of writing is that it is good for your mental health. It's a good reason to give it a try! From blogging and journaling to creative writing, there are multiple ways to express yourself.
Over the years, I've expressed myself in many ways. Let's take a look!
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Journaling
This one is kind of an epic fail for me. I own three different journals (separate from my writing notebooks). My sister got me a beautiful leather journal for my birthday, and I vowed to fill it with something, but I wasn't sure what. Then I had a horrifying nightmare and wanted to write it down, so it's the very first entry in that journal. Unfortunately, I have no idea where it migrated to, so I haven't filled it with anymore dreams.
The closest thing I have to a diary is Reflection.app. As long as I get a reminder email from them (and I used to, but they've really slowed down on that) I remember to blog. I started using it as a diary in Japan and talked a lot about the querying and submission process with writing, too, putting in a ton of worries and fears about it. It's been months since I've updated and I need to get back into the swing of things. But it's cathartic when I remember to actually use the site.
Poetry
I used to write a ton of poetry when I was younger, through elementary and middle school, and it always rhymed. I did a lot of nonsense poetry in high school and then took a break from rhyming poetry to write lyrics to the shows I was creating. After that period of my life (post-college) I went to graduate school and got into writing haiku. I'd always liked haiku (the syllables challenge was so fun for me) and wrote it occasionally for fun, but after graduate school I managed to get a couple published:
Then, to challenge myself, I wrote an acrostic poem instead of a haiku based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's The Sandman: Coppelius. I am so proud of this poem (although when the poem was formatted for printing, the acrostic part of it disappeared). Playing with structure was so hard to get my hidden sentence right-- "Eyes are not a window but a mirror." It took me longer than my usual poetry, but I stand by its awesomeness.
I don't write much poetry now. I wrote some in Japan (haiku again) that got rejected and then I took a break to write Son of the Siren and I haven't gotten back into the habit of writing poetry since. Admittedly I miss it.
Playwriting & Musicals
I've said a lot about playwriting on this blog. I started writing full-length plays at age 12, continued through high school, and continued after graduating with my bachelor's degree. It's what I've mostly known how to do my entire life. But theater became a symbol of toxicity for me, and my stories have grown bigger than the stage, so I've moved on. However, I would love to write music again and put on another production of Melancholia and perhaps write a new musical, too.
Blogging
Way back in the day I blogged on sites like LiveJournal and Myspace, although those blog entries were more about random things going on in my life. Probably the best thing I did was blog about Wales when I lived over there on LiveJournal, because that was actually interesting. But most of the time I complained about things or worried about things or rambled on about myself.
Blogging as a part of my author identity began in 2010 when Seton Hill University required its WPF students to make online websites for the Readings in the Genre courses. I blogged about books and film, and then I started blogging about anime, geeky things, and my process of becoming a writer. I've been doing this steadily up until now, though I've narrowed my blog down to things I consider an integral part of my author identity: animation, fairy tales, books and reading, and more.
I love blogging. Sometimes the posts are personal like diary entries, but more often than not they have a focus about them that talks about publishing, writing, reading, and my inspirations. It's so much fun and I hope to keep this up for a long, long time.
Writing Novels
This is the newest part of my writing life, although I've been doing this for years. It just feels new because my first book came out this year. Writing novels is so difficult for me but once everything is said and done, I'm happy with what I wrote and feel so proud of it. I know that I'm a good writer with a good story, though I don't always feel that way. I may not write YA all the time, but fantasy is my go-to genre and I love creating new worlds and writing about magic. I hope the magic continues for years to come.
What About You?
If you are a writer, what do you dabble in? If you aren't a writer, what do you dream of trying? Today's a good day to start adventuring--grab your pencil or your laptop and have fun!
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