How to Reconnect with Your Love for Writing

ABSTRACT

This blog post features my experience with writing and how I fell in love with it. Although falling out of touch with it for a little while, writing has always been my muse and has allowed me to connect with my feelings, imagination, and personality. For me, writing is something that I do for myself and is an important part of maintaining mental wellness. 

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If you are here right now it is most likely because you, too are enrolled in Lakehead's Professional Writing course. Maybe you decided to take the course because you have a deep passion for writing and want to improve your skills, or maybe not! Maybe you've never written a short-story in your life (for fun, of course, school doesn't count 😉) but want to try something new. Nothing wrong with that! I'm all about trying new things. Or maybe in the off chance you aren't even a student but happened to stumble upon my post. 

Nevertheless, whatever your reason for being here may be, we all can relate to one thing in some capacity: WRITING! This blog post is intended for anyone who is looking to find their way back to writing, or to find a whole new love for it. Let's reminisce on how we fell in love with writing in the first place!

Admittedly, I did fall out of touch with writing for quite some time. Becoming an adult was a stressful, and seemingly impossible experience for me that occupied a lot of my free time, as I'm sure it has for everybody. Now that I have a little bit more experience as an adult and have a better handle on things (I hope anyways...) I have been finding my way back to writing without even really realizing it. I guess that's how passions work, though. They always find your way back to you. 

When I was really young I always had my nose in a journal. I was always writing things down, whether it were short stories, ideas, or my thoughts. I let my creativity flow onto the paper in whatever capacity I could. I still have stacks of books from my childhood that have hundreds of pages of my writing - and admittedly, they're kind of cute to look back on. 

I never quite understood my passion until I got a little bit older. My random scribbles and stories turned into more meaningful scribbles and stories. I remember sitting for hours in my basement on our family computer writing story after story. I was so invested in the stories I was creating that I felt like I even assumed the roles of my characters at times.

I think that a lot of creativity when it came to writing was based on the books that I read as a child and pre-teen. I read a lot of books, and I'm thankful that I did because it has shaped me into the person that I am today and has given me a love for both writing AND reading that I still carry with me to this day. 

Once I got into high school I didn't really enjoy my traditional English courses because I didn't enjoy writing essays on books. I took a "Writer's Craft" course as an elective, though, which easily became one of my favourite credits from all four years because I was able to use my creativity the way I wanted and was able showcase that through my writing. 

I had an inactive period, though, during which I obviously had no connection to writing. I honestly didn't even have a connection to reading anymore, which is sad when you think about it. I'm not sure if it was the start of University that had me too occupied with reading and writing for the purpose of academics and not for fun that took me away from it, but nonetheless I felt like it was impossible to pick up another book or write another word onto a piece of paper after my first year. 

People do say that the first year of university is hard, and it's true, but I wasn't expecting it to take a toll on my passions as well. 

Once I got through my first couple of years, I had a better eye for choosing courses that I was more interested in. I knew which ones to stay away from and which ones I liked, and most importantly, which ones weren't going to take a toll on my passion. I tried to stay away from traditional English courses because, as talked about above, I didn't feel like the writing was personal. I want to be creative and make the writing mine - give it my own personal touch, which is why I think I'm enjoying this course so much; because I am writing for me.

So, at this point I have to say that if you, too have struggled or are currently struggling to get back into the groove of writing, here's my advice to you: just do it (not to be confused with the Nike slogan...hehe ). But honestly, even as I am sitting here writing this now I am realizing even more how much I love writing and how much I continue to miss it. So seriously, pick up that pen, or open up that document and start writing. It by no means has to be formal writing, but just write. And if you're struggling to get back into it, don't write for anyone else but yourself. Do it for you, and you only.

I often find myself writing down my thoughts more than anything at this stage of my life, and I'm content with just that right now. It helps me get my ideas out of my head and onto another surface, where I know I can find them again later if needed. Sometimes I don't need them again, but it helps me to sort and organize, and it keeps my in touch with my passion for writing. Who knows what I might do with those thoughts in the future, but as I said before, I'm doing it for me, and that's what really matters. 

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Thanks for reading, everyone! Feel free to share your thoughts below. I'd love to hear about your passion for writing, or even your newfound disgust towards it (that's okay too, no judgement here). Please feel free to comment below, I'd love to chat. 

That's all for now! Until next time.

Emily ♡

Struggling to reconnect with your love for writing? So did I. Click the link to read about my experience with writing and find out how I learned to love it again. https://t.co/qOZOJe0ZpH

— Emily Schick (@eschicklakehead) July 5, 2022