Natalie Goldberg's Essay: A Short Story

“Writing means sharing. It's part of the human condition to want to share things - thoughts, ideas, opinions.” -Paulo Coelho

Writing may be an enthralling experience for one and a clever way to decompress for another. In general, however, writing has different purposes for a variety of people. “Why I Write,” written in the late 20th century by Terry Tempest Williams, describes various reasons for writing narrated from a female’s perspective. The short essay begins in the middle of the night with a woman engulfed in her own thoughts. She abruptly goes forth by reciting the multiple reasons why she continues to write in her life. Through a variety of rhetorical devices such as repetition, imagery, analogies, and symbolism, Terry Tempest Williams produces an elegant piece of writing that offers the audience insight into the narrator’s life and forces the audience to have empathy for the narrator with the situation she is incurring.

“Once you take time to figure out your beliefs about you as a writer, and about writing itself, you can begin to see where you hold yourself back from actually writing in the first place (Litchfield-Fink).” The article “The Real Reason Why You Can’t Write” by Esther Litchfield-Fink, is going over how people that want to write or be writers, are limited by their beliefs. Esther goes over a “secret” about writing that helps overcome this problem and can make anyone a successful writer. With being optimistic and having positive beliefs you can accomplish your goal of being a writer.

As a writer I often write from experience and make my writing very intimate and personal. My writing process involves writing down feelings as soon as they are felt. I jot down how I feel wherever I

I’d always enjoyed writing but I’d never been so vocal about it. For me, it happened quietly. My notebooks lie scattered over my bedroom floor; they had no place at the lunch table. And my writing survived on my acknowledgments alone, I couldn’t even imagine letting some else read it. This was due in part to my own self-doubt: I was embarrassed of my poems that never rhymed and my short action stories that never seemed to have any plot. But I

I’m not a notable writer, nor have I really wanted to join the writing industry. However, I have been interested in other people’s writing. From their deep meanings, content, and different formats/styles. It’s a wondrous creation made from within our imagination and experiences. It has inspired me to write too. I’ve been writing most of my life that it has become a necessity. And now from my past experiences with writing, I try my best to improve my skills as a writer for the future.

Why do you write? Is it because you love to write or ,you have to write for a school assignment or etc. I know Stephen King writes because he loves it. Every day he is willing to block the world out and just write. He encourages others to be willing to shut a door and write in other words block the world out and get rid of distractions and just write your heart out. I found this quote to be interesting in his piece”When you write,you want to get rid of the world do you not?... When you’re writing, you’re creating your own worlds”(21,King). I love the message this sends use your imagination, express yourself through your writing.That’s what I hope to be able to achieve. On the other hand some writers write because they feel like they have

On the subject of Burroway’s ideas, I can say with certainty that pretty much all of them apply to me. I love creating stories, and I want to share them with others, but putting them on paper is such an arduous task for me. I freeze up and spend time trying to think of what to say. I feel the fear of what I’ll write, and I doubt myself once I’m finished writing. Occasionally, I also lose focus, and rather than try to regain it, I tend to take long breaks. I probably do that not only because the writing process is so tiring, but also because I dread going back to it.

However, most of the time I will despise writing and try to avoid it as much as possible. The reason I do not like writing is, because I frequently have so much to say and I cannot grasp a way to organize everything. When I write for enjoyment I will mainly write about the thoughts in my head and nonchalantly caring if it makes sense or not. It’s like the difference between a doodle and a drawing. A doodle is just a “whatever” picture. It is just randomly drawn and it won’t matter if the lines are straight or not. In a drawing everything has to be perfect and neat. I enjoy to “doodle” write and just write my thoughts out about anything, I am afraid to publicly say. I’ve been taught to write by having teachers just tell me what they want me to write. The part about me learning to write I kind of have taught myself using some of the knowledge that previous teachers have given me. Not only, but I also, face several challenges as a writer like the lack of creativity and writing descriptively. When I write, I like to just state my point or main idea, but I struggle with describing it in depth and explaining my main idea as specific as possible. Some writers make a drama and explain everything so clearly and their emotions, however I am not that type of

I started to write when I was 10 years old. It was under the recommendation of my therapist who believed that it would help me release negative emotions, and it did. Since then I have loved to write stories, journals, poems, anything that could set my imagination free. However as a writer I’ve always felt unsuccessful I have always felt that the pieces I write are never completed. Even more that as a writer I was not good enough and I shouldn’t show my writings to anyone that I shouldn't even bother to continue as a writer. These reason both motivate me and make me not want to continue but I choose to let it motivate me because I

I've always been somewhat afraid of writing. I have only ever been comfortable with writing in an expository form, the common type of writing used in school. A skill I have practiced consistently for years, with a clear formula and structure. However, first person writing, writing that requires my own unmitigated thoughts and ideas without the crutch of analytical analysis or a reference to quotes and statistics of other authors, has always provoked anxiety. Writing without a theme, prompt or formula, no district standardization, no grader to impress with my use of age appropriate vocabulary or set structure has seemed impossible to me.

The effects of two journaling functions, one focusing on verbal expressive emotions and the other on expressive writing were used to improve interpersonal relationships, self-awareness, and communication skills. I have used journaling and storytelling as a contemplative action plan for emotional suppression. In these journals I kept my deepest thoughts and feelings while sharing personal stories with others during storytelling in pursuit of dealing with my lack of communication skills and anxieties. Due to journaling about personal experiences in my everyday life, I have experienced less mental illness and developed greater positive growth over the past three months. I have also used another form of communication called storytelling to actively engaging with my thoughts. I plan to cultivate storytelling by learning the art building a connection and understanding with others.

My greatest enemy is the American Education System. I could talk for hours about how flawed, corrupt, unjust, behind, and untruthful American schools are, yet I could not for the life of me write about how I truly feel. Knowledge, wisdom, and passion are by far my favorite attributes in a person, and I am constantly searching for someone who possesses these three qualities so I can finally have a fulfilling conversation. The closest things I have to passionate people are my books. Gabriel García Márquez, Jane Austen, Nicholas Kristof, Madeleine L’Engle, Rick Riordan, Harper Lee, Betty Smith, Lois Lowry, and so many more have enabled me to think beyond myself, to explore alien ideas, and to think creatively. I am jealous of all those who can create. They are able to explain themselves while I cannot. Often, I get trapped in my own mind and I desperately search for some sort of release. I am fooled into thinking writing can be my form of release, but I have been conditioned to follow a strict set of guidelines that cause me to write for someone other than myself. I am afraid of being imperfect and exposing myself to those around, as I often fear rejection. me because I fear rejection. All too often I conceal my real voice and my real opinions underneath a blanket of self-doubt and the pressure to conform. Writing, and more specifically creating, has become a chore rather than pleasure, and all I want to blame is how I was taught.

I don’t consider myself a very good writer. I write when I am made to or when I have something that I need to say that I can’t just tell someone. I keep a diary. Usually my diary is just a record of what I have done that day. It’s not so much about my feelings. I don’t really like talking about my feelings, usually because most of the time I am confused about what exactly I am feeling. I tend to keep the feelings that I do have to myself, to protect myself from getting hurt.

Writing has always played a huge role in my life. I’ve been reading writing for as long as I can remember as I have an immense love of reading. This love would grow into a love for writing as well; I still stumble upon journals and writings from my five-year-old self about the happenings in my kindergarten class. As time would go on I would discover academic writing, and how to convey my thoughts on what was the topic of student that particular year or semester in my schooling. Later, writing would become a constant for me, and a comfort; I was known to my friends as always having a journal, and a pen on my person. I learned to write down my feelings and my thoughts, song lyrics that were in my head, reflections for the day. I learned how