Writing doesn't have to make sense

If you saw the title of this blog post, likely you're a bit confused. What on earth do I mean when I say that writing doesn't have to make sense? Obviously I'm not talking about writing that you submit to a magazine or a publisher. I'm talking about writing that soothes your soul. Any writer will tell you that the urge to sit down and write is ever-present. I even carry a small notebook and pen with me everywhere I go. You never know when inspiration will strike. I've been known to pull my car over to the side of the road to jot something down, just ask my kids. The message I want to share with you is that the first time you write something, it doesn't have to make sense to anyone but you. That's what editing is for.

I have countless poems that have one or two sentences, and they would look ridiculous to anyone else. Yet I know that over time as I work on them, I can craft some thing beautiful. I avoided writing as a teenager because I hated everything that I wrote. In my early twenties I still hated everything I wrote, but I couldn't fight my urge to write. So I filled tons of notebooks full of nonsense. Most of that early writing ended up in the recycle bin, stashed under my bed, or anywhere else I could squirrel it away. It may not have made me a published author, but it did make me a better writer. Of course it wasn't until I started writing every day that I started to love my writing. I'm still critical of it, but I'm grateful to be able to sit down and write.

If you dream of writing, but you worry that everything you write is nonsense. It's okay, just keep writing. Eventually your words will come together, to tell the story you want to tell.


Have a magical day!

Kates