The Art of Writing

When I was a freshman in college, my English professor told me that I absolutely must take a creative writing class, because she loved my writing and thought that my writing showed so much passion. I never took her up on that advice – couldn’t ever seem to fit it into my schedule because it was unnecessary – but now I wish I would’ve invested in that.  I’ve always known that I was a solid writer, but never thought I was a good writer. I want to work on it.

My Uncle Bruce was a great writer. He was a poet actually. I have a book of his poems that he wrote during his short life of 27 years. I was never able to meet him, seeing that he died when my dad was only 12 years old. However, as I read his poetry, I can certainly catch a glimpse into who he was as a person and the things he treasured and thought about. 

I would like my posterity to be able to do the same. I’ve never been a big journal writer though. Even on my mission, the only times I really wrote in my journal was when I was upset and needed an outlet. So if my kids ever read my mission journal, they would probably feel like my mission was so awful and hard…When in reality it was the best time of my life. So, I would like to start to develop my writing skills. I want to learn to more effectively express myself through words. How does one learn these skills? Practice, right?