A Writer Writes

I've been writing most of my life. In grammer school my writing and language teacher, Mrs. Lieberg, nurtured and nourished the 4th grade writer in me. She introduced me to poetry, encouraged me to read as much as possible, and shared with me her love of words.

She made my first journal. It was 4x6 inch paper with abstract art pasted to the front. She encouraged a poem journal, and I wrote. When I'd filled it, she gave me a notebook. By then journaling had become a way of life for me.

She was a writer. Looking back, I know she was a good writer. And she was always reminding me that I was, as well. I was shocked, but she would smile and point to my journaling. "A writer writes. Always."

And so, many years later, I am still journaling. I've tried plain word processing programs, simple notebooks, beautiful notebooks, and journaling software. And I've found that I can write by hand on most any paper. Using computers have some advantages, but there is still a part of me that loves the feel of the pen scratching and rolling smoothly across the paper.

The journal writing programs have, for the most part, been more difficult and not intuitive enough to encourage writing. Recently I've found one that is fairly simple, straight forward, and has a wonderful feature that allows the author/journal-keeper to add notes to a section or a whole document, making it easy to find when searching for subjects. (If you're interested in the journaling program, look to the left. It's under "Writer's Tools." There are other types...which you'll see when you look at the link. And there is a newsletter full of neat little tips on using the program better. I have to say that it's saved me a lot of time putting articles together. And it's locked with a password, so my teenage daughter can keep a journal here as well and not feel her creativity or privacy have been trod on.

Really, a journal can be anything you want or need it to be. I use it to do "brain dumps," as they are inelagently called. I also write stream of conscious, write about a subject set as a topic somewhere (Writer's Digest, The Writing Bridge, and a few others.) These keep me writing. And there are contests, requests for articles, and other jobs that keep me writing and pay the bills.

And so, I am writing. Every day. And if you would be a writer, I urge you to write. Don't edit, don't try to find a focus (unless you already have one) and write...write...write.