Dear Reader,
It’s all about you! No, seriously, it is. How often have you heard this phrase in a negative way? Well, not from me; not this time. When it comes to writing (and, if you’re reading this, then you know this letter is about writing), it’s truly all about you. What’s your writing style? Everyone has one! Maybe you’re an interpretive writer; letting the audience draw from your words whatever they wish. Or maybe you write largely in metaphors (maybe a little dangerous, but you surely live on the edge). Whatever your personal writing style is, it’s all about your process and your methods. I’m sure you’re wondering, however, how you might develop your own personal writing style? How this fabulous piece of woman got her own? Or does she even have her own writing style? Now, clearly, I wouldn’t be writing to you if I didn’t already have one. But, readers, I’ve got a secret for you. And, we all know how much I like secrets.
I didn’t always have a writing style.
I existed for years without one. I floated around, writing empty words onto paper. It was really rather sad. And, of course, I just couldn’t bare it happening to any of you. This would be my reason for writing to you! I’ve finally found my writing style and I find it absolutely imperative that I share my secrets with you. That way, you can stun others with your own personal style. Here are just a few ways that helped me find myself (try to ignore the heaviness of that last sentence; you know how I love dramatics):
1. Go at your own speed.
Don’t be afraid to take your time. If you allow yourself those god-forsaken hours to boil over whether or not you like what you wrote, you’re allowing yourself an opportunity to get to know your work. And, don’t be afraid if you’re going too fast. Your speed is different than everyone else’s. There’s nothing wrong with that.
2. Don’t erase anything.
I do this thing where I never erase anything I write when I sit down in front of the computer. Mostly because there was this one time where I erased roughly two pages of, what I had deemed at the time, useless. Turned out that it had been pure gold two days later, but at that point, it had been gone for some time. I mourned the loss of my fabulousity and it would pain me for the very same thing to happen to you. Hang onto those “useless” nuggets of craptasticness. They may just save you in the long run.
3. Don’t be ashamed.
There’s no such thing as bad writing; only writing that needs to be improved. But, what am I saying? I’m saying to dig deep and never be ashamed of something you write. It may just be the one piece you need to find out how you function in the writing world. I’ve learned through heart-breaking experience and lots of tears (and, subsequently, lots of Ben & Jerry’s), that no one can take away who you are through writing. They can try, but if you’re grounded in what you write and the pride you take in your works, then nothing can bring you down. Even if it’s just a sentence, hold onto it like it’s your firstborn child (those are always Mommy and Daddy’s favorite; even if they tell you different).
So, readers, how do you feel? Scared? Nervous? Excited? I say “Excellent!” to all of these things. Use your unstable, yet charming, emotions to motivate you through the writing world. Find your style. It’s there somewhere. Oh, and when you find it? Don’t ever let it go. That’s it for now! Until next time!
XOXO,
Gossip Girl (via writing style this week)
Your blog posts are always fun to read. =]
ReplyDeleteWriting papers use to get me so bummed out. The three points you stated are some issues that I stress.
This is how I usually write; I write slowly because I don’t know what to say, then I would erase everything because it didn’t sound good, and because I don’t think my writing sounds good, I am ashamed of It; therefore I’m scared to share my writing with everyone else. Can you sense the frustration?
I’m glad that you presented these issues in a positive way. I’ve never thought about how everyone has their own writing pace or even thought about how great writers out there actually take their time. I always thought that great writers would write out all their thoughts into the paper smoothly with no pauses. Me, I would constantly erase-pause-type as I did when typing this response out to you.
Speaking of erasing, you have no idea how much I “backspaced” the beginning of this response. Before typing this out, I told myself “try not to erase,” but it’s a habit to erase. When I took art, one of our projects was to draw anything we wanted, but the catch was we were not allowed to erase anything. Because of that project I did not expect that “messed up” lines in my drawing can actually turn out into something if you put effort into forming it into something nice. That kind of applies to writing too. Like you said, “Hang onto those “useless” nuggets of craptasticness. They may just save you in the long run.”
And all these non-stop writing assignments we’ve been having so far in this class, I will admit that (even though I’m not a fan of writing) this is a good practice to improve writing skills.
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ReplyDeleteFirstly I have to say, your writing is so bubbly that it made me smile while reading it! You were definitely able to capture that Gossip Girl feel in your writing. However, pertaining to the context or message of your blog, I have to say that I agree with the idea that one should never erase their work. Sometimes I will go off on tangents in my writing. These ideas might not be exactly relevant to what I am writing about, so I’ll end up getting rid of these perfectly worded sentences that illustrate exactly what I want it to convey. Then, a few minutes later, I’ll realize I could have used that flawlessly sculpted piece of writing. But it was too late, and I forget how I worded it exactly. These are the worst moments. It is like you lost twenty bucks out of your wallet, and now you can’t buy that shiny useless thing you wanted in the window. There are so many times that this has happened to me, that now, instead of throwing away my money, I’m saving it in a little piggy bank. I’ll pull up a separate Word document, and I’ll save it for a rainy day.
ReplyDeleteDear Gossip Girl,
ReplyDeleteYou are quite the writer I must say. When you write I literally feel like you are talking to me! It’s great how you capture my attention so thank you for not boring me. I do agree with you that we need to go at our own speed. If we go to fast or to slow, we sometimes can loose our train of thought. I notice when I type faster my ideas flow out compared to if I was typing slower. It’s strange how our brains function, you would think going slower would give us more ideas right? I agree with you with don’t erase anything. I have every paper I have written since high school. I occasionally go back and read them to just to see how I have improved my writing, and it’s so amazing how much it has. It is really a huge confident booster! Also never be ashamed of your writing, we all do have our own writing styles. We all just have to find what exactly that is. Oh and what I really agree with you on, mommy and daddy’s favorite is the first-born child. (; I am now excited to start writing and express my own style and flavor!