Hello and Happy Saturday! I’m not sure if I’ve ever typed “Happy Saturday” on a blog post or not.
In December, I received an email from WordPress about their January writing challenge. I clicked the link to sign up, and have been receiving daily emails with pretty simple topics including introduce yourself, what brings you joy in life, what brings you joy in life and more.
Like I said yesterday, I tend to have my Monday-Friday content planned and written and some of these topics I’ve previously covered, but thought I might pop in with a post on the weekends this month.
I liked yesterday’s topic, so I’m going to write about that.
Why do you write?
Well, I’ve always enjoyed writing. What little girl didn’t have a sparkly pink diary that locked along with a pen with a fuzzy poof on the top?
I remember having a few and jotting down my thoughts and feelings through the years. Not sure where those diaries are now.
For me, like many, writing is a way to express myself. In general, I’d say that I’m an introvert who is more reserved or quiet until I get to know someone. I’ve pretty much always been that way. I also kind of hang on the peripheral until I get the lay of the land and have something to say. I don’t jump right into a conversation. I like to have time to think before a response too. So, I think writing is a way for me to express myself, provide a thoughtful response and have my voice heard.
Also, I write to show others that I care. I love receiving a handwritten note or card, and try to do the same for birthdays and other occasions. I already miss putting notes in my kids’ lunchboxes.
In college, I most definitely preferred writing a twenty page paper vs taking a test. I think I have a smidge of test anxiety. Tests have answers that are right and wrong. Give me a few pages of writing where I can provide my opinion and back it up with text evidence and I at least feel like I have a shot at “getting the correct answer.” I earned two Master’s degrees without taking a single test. I wrote hundreds and hundreds of pages, but that never stressed me out.
As a teacher, I love teaching the process of writing to students. I love reading their final drafts of work and hearing their voices in their writing.
Now, of course, I write for fun. This blog is a hobby of mine. I love that I’ve “met” others through my site, I have pictures and memories in one place to look back on, and there’s a sense of community in the blogging world. I really do look forward to writing my posts, and engage in the readers through comments. Also, it’s fun to write a bit more informally and take off my “teacher hat” when I can.
I’m writing this right now while sipping my coffee, and it makes me happy. I’m going to proofread before posting because I can’t shake the English teacher in me, but it’s fun to just go ahead and “publish” immediately after typing out my thoughts.
I hope your weekend is off to a great start.
showmeandsweettea.com 
I feel like I could have written this post myself! I too much preferred writing papers to taking tests and it was a huge bone of contention with my chemistry lab partner in high school that he performed all the experiments while I watched/ supervised (I was much too afraid of the chemicals and my general clumsiness to want to help) and yet I always scored just a few points higher than him when we had to write up our results!
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Haha divide and conquer
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Exactly!! I like the blogs that are more “business” too b/c content is generally consistent but seeing others (like you) with a new post up always makes me happy too. It’s like getting a phone call from a friend to catch up :). I, like you, can NEVER hit publish without a proofread — ha! Probably why I don’t blog as much as the rest of you. . .the perfectionist in me rears its ugly head :/. And, I generally chose to read rather than write 😉
What a great challenge — gives bloggers a reason to log on every day!!
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I try to proofread – teacher guilt if there’s a mistake but I also remind myself that my blog is for fun 🙂
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I am so much like you in both personality and with a love for writing. I’ve loved to write since I was very young and have written so many poems, short stories, essays, and even children’s books in more recent years. It’s an outlet for me, needless to say, but it also helps me to stay sane. I don’t speak well publicly, so I love to write out my thoughts for that reason. I am going to have to borrow this idea soon…I hope you don’t mind, and I’ll link back to you for giving me the idea. I really enjoyed reading something new I didn’t know about you. Thanks for sharing!
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Children’s books?? That’s amazing. Thanks for the kind words 🙂
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