Lessons of Writing

In his article, "Becoming Your Own Expert", Gillespie argues that writers learn about writing not through guided instruction from a professor, but through their own writing processes--through writing and rewriting and writing again. As independent individuals, most life lessons we learn in life that truly stick come from "learning the hard way", and I side with Gillespie when he says that writing is no different.

Creative writing is what really sparked my passion for the art, and keeping a journal has been a discipline that has enriched some of my best experiences, helped me through some of my most confusing seasons, and guided my discovery of purpose in the dark stuff. I've learned it is best to not edit your thoughts while you write them, but to let everything in your mind run onto the page, regardless of the sense (or lack thereof) that it makes. I've learned that we learn about ourselves through writing, things we may not have known before sitting down with pen to paper, and that complete honesty in writing is key. To write is to explore and discover; to create something beautiful out of nothing is a noble endeavor. And it is because of this that I keep writing.