In March of 2020 the world seemed to come to an abrupt halt. I had read about pandemics before in history books. I never thought that a pandemic would happen during my lifetime. At first, I remember being excited that schools closed and thought of it as a vacation. But as time went on, it became more and more difficult to remain isolated. I have several health conditions that make me more vulnerable than others. Being a high risk for severe Covid, my parents made sure that I stayed home as much as possible. I wasn't able to see my friends, or even extended family. My world suddenly became very small.
While I had always enjoyed writing, it wasn't until the pandemic began that I found my voice. I am so grateful that my seventh grade teacher gave us a writing assignment during those early days of the pandemic. We had to keep a journal each week of how we felt. Getting into the habit of writing on a regular basis helped me deal with the anxiety and uncertainty of daily life. Sitting down at the computer and expressing my thoughts in written form gave me a creative outlet that helped save me from falling into a depression. Even now that I am in ninth grade, I have kept the habit of writing on a daily basis
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While I’ve always enjoyed writing, for me, and many writers, the hardest part of writing is staring at a blank page (or screen, as the case may be). Writing that first word, sentence, or paragraph used to be so intimidating that I would often avoid it - especially in the beginning. I didn’t have the confidence that I needed in order to trust that the words would come.
After my seventh grade teacher assigned a writing journal that required us to write for at least 5 minutes every day, I began to overcome this hurdle. Her advice was to free your mind from any preconceived notions of what you “should” be writing and simply begin putting words down on paper. I began to realize that even when I felt like I had nothing to say, once I started writing the words flowed freely. I think that this fear of not being good enough is something that many people face, whether it is writing, how we look, or the clothes we wear. Overcoming our fears can help inspire confidence, not only within ourselves but in others as well.
Now that I am in the habit of writing daily, I am much more confident both in my creative writing and in my academic writing as well. I know my writing style and am able to use my skills to help other writers as well. My best advice for how you can get better at writing, is to do just that - write!
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"Creativity is Not Device Dependent" by eliztesch is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
