Why Write?

Sophie Johnson
Jul 30, 2017 · 2 min read

Seven years ago, I was given a sparkly diary for a birthday present. My third grade self had just about no idea what to do with it, due to the extreme intimidation of the perfectly lined, blank pages. My first entry, in anally perfectionistic elementary school cursive read, “Dear Diary… Mrs. Fleming my teacher is pregnant and getting bigger every day. Love, Sophie (your writer).” It took up three lines and appeared just as rigid as the hallway etiquette of the elementary school itself. Almost.

A few sparse and random entries later and it’s suddenly 2014, three years ago. In a long entry, I explained that I had found the glittery journal while cleaning. From that day on, I started writing in the stupid little thing more often. I documented the ins and outs of my seventh grade life, and everything that I felt was worthy of being sandwiched between my pen and the journal pages. Scribbling thoughts down on my new, always-willing-to-listen friend known as “Paper” became second nature. Habit. Instinct. I filled countless pages with boy troubles, angry rants, favorite moments, comments on the world, and thoughts on the crazy species that is humanity. In ninth grade, 2016 to now, my love for this unfamiliar thing called writing was harnessed and chiseled at.

There’s something about being able to create something 100% new and your own by brushing off what’s in your head and tattooing it onto paper. There’s something about reading other people’s thoughts, and how they subconsciously affect you. There’s simply something about housing a journal and a flashlight under your pillow. What that something is? Can’t tell you, unfortunately. You have to take out a helluva pen and some intimidatingly blank paper, and that’s how you’ll find your “something.” So go ahead and ask it, “Why write?” But also go ahead and do it. Try it. A good sandwich of thoughts, ink, and paper, have often taught even the surest of us much about ourselves. Your keyboard is waiting, your pen is waiting, your paper is waiting. Do I need to slap a “Try me!” sign on them?

Sophie Johnson

Written by

Learner, Thinker, Writer, Talker, Laugher

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