Wednesday Rambles

I don't know if this is just me, but sometimes I get on these kicks where I decide I'm never going to ever show my writing to anyone ever again because it's stressful and I don't like explaining myself etc., etc.

This is a very stupid thing to decide.

If I never shared my writing with anyone, I wouldn't be blogging right now. I wouldn't be having a semi-awkward (on my part, anyway) conversation with a former New Yorker staff member on Twitter. I wouldn't have gone to Chicago last April. I might not even know that Chicago is one of my favorite cities. I wouldn't be able to nag my friends/teachers/family members about helping me edit, or read their comments during study hall and fall out of my chair laughing.

I definitely would not be missing math tomorrow, if it weren't for writing. I get to skip the last three periods of the day tomorrow to crash a creative writing class at the college near my home. Afterwords, I'm meeting with the professor to share some of my writing. I've been waiting for this since June, so I'm a tiny bit excited. Just a tiny bit.

If you ever catch yourself wanting to keep your writing to yourself, think about it first. There is absolutely nothing wrong with writing just for yourself, but you may be denying yourself some incredibly fun opportunities. There are thing I've written that I hope to someday burn because they are impossible to read without throwing up. But there are things I've written that I love (for now). And I like sharing them, even if it makes me feel like tearing my hair out sometimes.


Caroline