Writing

I tell myself that I need to write more all the time, so maybe this is the place to do it. No expectations, maybe just a post here and there. Or a daily journal. Or something in between. Who knows.

The thing is that I like writing. It’s a fantastic outlet for my thoughts, creative or scholarly, but it feels like work in a way that I don’t like. I think this feeling comes from my time in school. So many of my friends have expressed this or a similar sentiment about both reading and writing, where the way that these are graded takes all the enjoyment out of them.

So, I’ve been trying to reclaim the fun of reading and writing. The Percy Jackson series and audiobooks (specifically Brandon Sanderson’s fantasy epics, iykyk) got me back into reading. I think I’d forgotten how easy it is to get lost in fantasy books when you just let go. When there’s no pressure to analyze every little piece as you read – and get a bad grade if you don’t do it right – it’s a lot more enjoyable.

Same with writing: writing sketch comedy is so much fun — once I can get past the feeling of “I’m doing work that can be objectively judged as good or bad”. But writing is a form of art, and that’s not how art works! Sure, you can critique and improve it, but ultimately I’m doing it for myself because I want to. I’ve started to rediscover the art of writing for myself, and it’s just a bonus when other people enjoy it too.

Which brings us here. Inspired by my professor’s blog that dates back to his undergrad years, I’d like to keep a journal of (admittedly filtered) thoughts and things for myself and a few others to come back to later down the line. Or maybe nobody – not even myself – will ever read this again. And that’s okay! The point is to write and share for the act of writing and sharing itself. And for nothing else.