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Lot's Wife

Writing from the Earth

Write Where You Are

Sandra Cisneros: Latina Writer and Activist

Write Where You Are
Exerpt
Twelve Good Reasons to Write Your Life
by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Ph.D.

When I was 14, I started writing. I mostly wrote about all the tangles and barbs of feeling not good enough, not smart enough, not cute enough, not cool enough as well as too emotional, too intense, too insecure, too confused, too lost. Writing became a way to sort out what I felt, why I felt it, and what I could or couldn't do about it. But the very act of writing, in the same way that exercise releases seratonin in our brains so we feel happier, exercised my heart and soul, releasing some sense of joy and purpose.

Writing became my best friend, my truest confident, my most patience witness. It didn't talk back (at least not aloud), rarely called me names and never rejected me.

My book Write Where You Are: How to Use Writing to Make Sense of Your Life is my way of giving to teens today what writing gave me to me 25 years ago. I wrote this book to come full circle back to what I needed as a kid growing up in a broken home and broken culture: a way to put the pieces back together on the page, a way to make something real.

Write Where You Are marries the process of writing to learn about yourself with the craft of writing and revising poems, stories, plays and essays. This book embraces writing as a process of coming up with ideas, drafting, revising and sharing our writing with community, all the time looking to writing as a vehicle of self-discovery and healing. To that end, there's exercises for getting started, taking your writing deeper, and revising your work. The book also helps you connect with your community more through all the information on publishing, reading, taking classes, and working with mentors. And "Write Where You Are" discusses what writing can give to your life, including these top twelve reasons:

1. Writing helps you discover who you are. When you put pen to paper and pour out your thoughts, you begin to discover what you know about yourself and the world. You can explore what you love or hate, what hurts you, what you need, what you can give, and what you want out of life. This helps you better understand yourself and your place in the world.

2. Writing can help you believe in yourself and raise your self-esteem. The very act of making something out of nothing produces a feeling of pride and a sense of accomplishment. Knowing that you're able to fill up a journal with your thoughts, write a story, or put together a research paper helps you believe in your own abilities, talents, and perseverance. Your increased self-confidence can inspire you to take more risks in your writing and other creative activities.

3. When you write, you hear your own unique voice. Poet William Stafford once said that a writer is not someone who has something to say as much as someone who has found a way to say it. Writing allows you to communicate in your own words and voice, without the filters and blocks you might use when talking to people you want to please, avoid, connect with, impress, or run from. Writing gives you an opportunity to listen to your own distinctive voice, recognize it, and know it better.

4. As you write, you seek answers to questions and find new questions to ask. Because writing forces you to sit and think, it can be a way of finding answers to questions in your life. Writing is introspective by nature; it gives you the opportunity to carefully review choices and decisions about everything from what to study, to whom to hang with, to how to tell someone what's one your mind. In the process of writing about your issues and examining your questions, you may find answers that are right for you.

6. Writing enhances your creativity. Creating anything means asking questions, dwelling in doubt and confusion, and finally reaching a breakthrough. When you write, you immerse yourself in the creative process. The more practice you get, the more easily you can transfer these skills to other area os your life (school, activities, a job) that require creative solutions.

7. You can share yourself with others through writing. Many people believe that the written word allows for more freedom of expression than the spoken word. Writing lets you reveal aspects of yourself that don't always come across in face-to-face communication, phone conversations, or class discussions. Your writing self, in contrast to your talking self, has more time to reflect on what you believe, what you want to say, and why you think or feel a certain way.

8. Writing gives you a place to release anger, fear, sadness and other painful feelings.
Feelings are intense. They can hurt you to the core. (According to writer Oscar Wilde, their main charm is that they don't last!) When you're feeling angry, scared, upset, or depressed, it helps to get these emotions on paper rather than bottle them up. Writing is a safe way to release your feelings, explore them, and begin to cope.

9. You can help heal yourself through writing. It's no secret that many writers derive at least some healing benefits from writing. Whether it's their career, passion, hobby, or all three, writing offers writers a way to examine their wounds and, if they want, share them with the world. You, too, can take what has hurt you and turn it into something that helps you. The very act of creating can be a way to heal.

10. Writing can bring you joy and a way to express it. It's fun to put into words what's important and meaningful to you, then read what you've written. But the process of writing can be fun, too. It's exciting to put words onto paper and fill up pages with your ideas and opinions, not knowing exactly what you're going to say or what will come next. When you allow yourself to relax and see what happens on the page, you experience the thrill of creative expression.

11. Writing can make you feel more alive. The words, the images, the delight or grief that surfaces, the discoveries, the answers or questions that come to you as you write - all of this helps you feel more alive. Writing, like any art, is a way to connect with yourself, other people and the world. In doing so, you may feel more involved, engaged, and interested in life. You may even be compelled to embrace it wholeheartedly.

12. You can discover your dreams through writing. Through the quiet and solidarity act of writing, you can discover your greatest dreams (not what you or other people think they should be, but what really calls to you). You can think about these dreams, what it would take for them to become real, and what you can do to start making things happen. Then you can write your way there.

The book is full of quotes from Dr. Seuss to Jamaica Kincaid, information about writers, writing exercises, Internet and other resources for teens who want to publish, and much more. If you're interested in getting a copy of the book, please contact www.Amazon.com.  The book is currently out of print, but you can get a deal through Amazon. 

"Sandra Cisneros: Latina Writer and Activist" is a young adult biography published by Enslow Press (Click here for Enslow Press).