Finding The Writer In You
Part A:
Take a piece of paper and brainstorm your history as a writer – regardless of how small you think that history is. We all had experiences of words and writing at school – spelling, reading, compositions, school magazines and so on. For various reasons, some of us struggled more than others with these, but we all have our own story to tell (see my recent blog posts on my childhood experiences – here).
Begin by listing your school experiences, then add other writing endeavours… letters (to family, friends, pen-friends…), poetry, stories, university essays, work reports, letters to the editor, competitions… whatever it is for you. Keep digging deeper and deeper – you may be surprised what you remember.
Part B:
Read through your list and then set it aside.
Part C:
Write the words, ‘I know I am a writer because…’ and then keep writing without censoring what flows onto the paper. Continue until you feel you’ve exhausted the subject.
You may end up with a dot-point paragraph, a page, or several pages. Everyone’s result will be different, but this doesn’t matter – what you are looking for, and what you will find, is your own unique experience.
This is the foundation on which to build your writing future.