Journaling as a Writer - and, More Importantly, as a Human Being

"Getting lost in something larger than myself always reminds me of the reasons why I write," -Anne Valente

I haven't been writing much, and as a writer at heart and by blood, this is like an mammal saying they haven't been breathing much. 

Usually, my writing - even though it's a fictional story - lets me release my thoughts, feelings, and emotions through characters and situations that are completely unrelated to my life. But since I've been ashamedly suffering from writer's block since like, August, journaling has become my forceful, if reluctant, outlet. 

In an attempt to relieve my creative and literary constipation, I've been journaling my days and my feelings away. 

And I've found that it's helped. 

It's helped me see how tainted my thoughts and emotions can be. With this, I always have the written perspective of time and my thoughts. 

Things I was freaking out about a week ago have become irrelevant or completely turned on their head. It helps me understand myself better, to pin down my thoughts somewhere tangible, where I can then wrestle with them and figure them out. 

And I can better understand myself, so I can better understand my writing - or lack thereof. 

Trust me, it helps in those in between chapter times or those emotional moments. 

Try it. It's like a drug. 

~The WordShaker 

Part 1.3: Transformation - Blog Journal of "Writing In the Glory"

"The act of giving voice to this spiritual suffering is the sacred duty of the writer," -Mo Yan

Third times the charm, I see. I'm so glad you're back for the third installment of my ongoing study of 'Writing In the Glory' by Jennifer A. Miskov.

Transformation.

"You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.  You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts." -2 Corinthians 3:2-3

1. What impact do you want your life to have on others?

I want my books to speak to the deep places in people.  To entertain is the simplest, the shallowest, the least important of what I want to accomplish.  I want my books to have significance - writing without purpose is like eating just to eat, drinking just to drink - I write because I have something to say and that something is a message of hope that every soul needs.

2. What impact do you want your book to have on others?

I want this book to show people that even the worst of times can turn into the best of times - God turns our mourning into dancing.  That creativity can heal. That there is one thing that binds us together: the human experience - rich in love and hope and pain and fear, and above all, the ability of choice.

~

Much love,

~The WordShaker