Journal #1

"Write what you know"

To me, writing is all about using your imagination and the awarness of what you know. The more that you expand your thoughts, the more freedom it gives the reader to explore what you're saying. I love editing stories that others have written. It gives me the challenge of making sure everything sounds right and is gramatically correct. My ultimate favourite genre is always going to be romance novels. Topics that I will have to avoid in writing would have to be poetry. I've never been able to write any good poetry and I don't rhyme that well. I could, overall, write more effectively if I began to research where these authors learned how to write from, and apply myself to learn like they did. I would love to talk to a writer and ask what influences them to write and helps them create really good stories.

Personally, I don't think I know enough yet to really "write what I know," but I can write my experiences in life so far and the lessons that they've taught me. Too me, experiencing something is more than knowing about something. Facts are useless unless you can put your pen to paper, so-to-say. Going through a situation or putting yourself in the position to see something first-hand, gives you more knowledge. Hearing about somebody else having a hard time and over-coming it in one way, could be worthless to you, mainly because everybody is different. We all get through things differently, in such ways that some people stick to themselves to push through while others need to reach out for as much help as they can possibly get. In my eyes, I think the one way we can reach out to each other though, is through writing. Knowing that someone else has had a similar experience, regardless of how different your lifestyles are, helps you face the realization that things really will be okay.


When things get tough, and sometimes, nobody is around to pick you back up, you get down on yourself and feel helpless, that's when you can pick up an inspiring novel and read about how people do get through, alone or with others. You start reading and in the beginning, you can see the relation that you have to the character. Once the book is done, it hits you... you are going to be strong, independent, and get through whatever it is that could be happening. It's relieving to know that this author really does understand what you're going through. For me, in my life, a novel is what helped me. I didn't know much, but I thought I knew it all. I didn't need school, I didn't need a job, and I felt that love was worthless, because they all ended up leaving in the end anyways. That was until I started reading "A Walk To Remember - Nicholas Sparks." It was a touching story about a boy who didn't care about anything, besides his popularity and a girl who was the complete opposite. They fell in-love and, even though in the end she dies of cancer, they're love is still there. That story finally made me know that life is what you make it. Life isn't all about knowing what's going to happen next, it's about your past and where it got you today, and how it will unfold your future. Knowing, is simply a figure of experience and being able to relate to someone, gives you a great, liberating feeling.

I would never write about something I have never experienced, in some sense. If I was there to help a friend while they went through it, I would still have a sense of the feeling, but if I had no idea what it would feel like to lose my mother, for example, I wouldn't touch on it. I wouldn't be able to express the feeling in the right way, mainly because I wouldn't want to feel that feeling, unless I really had to. Truth, to me, is a very great key to writing. If I find honesty in somebody's writing, I'll most-likely love it instantly. Trying to express a feeling you've never felt is definitely my limitation in writing. Overall though, it's all about who's writing. Some people could fake a feeling and make it sound so good with their level of writing, but for me personally, I'll stick to the personal experiences.