Three Years Experience and an Update

It’s been a long long time since I posted anything; essentially February became a lost month. It’s also been almost three years since I started this blog. I never imagined how much evolving would happen in that time – of me, of the blog, and of everything in-between. When I started the blog I was very adrift in the world. I had been rejected from the school of education at UConn, and I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. The blog was a way of getting my voice into the world in case I decided to pursue writing as a career. Fast forward three years. I’m still here – in the field of education like I had originally planned – and the blog is still here, joined by another blog that focuses on English and teaching and books exclusively. I never imagined that I would have one blog, let alone two, or that I would be so passionate about them.

This blog has gone through several evolutions since I started it. The first summer I blogged about my internship and what I was doing and just little random happy things. Then I blogged about school and my journalism classes and grad school. And in the grad school stage I got lost in the muck and couldn’t find my way out. I didn’t know why I was continuing with the blog or what direction and purpose I wanted it to have.

Maybe for some people this wouldn’t be a big deal. But I found it increasingly difficult to blog when I had no direction. I didn’t know what I was writing about. I didn’t know what to write about. So February became a lost month.

I couldn’t allow that to continue, not when I knew deep down that I wanted to keep the blog alive and operating. So I brainstormed mood words (empowerment, encouragement, inspiration, kindness, love), and I brainstormed the types of things I wanted to be sharing (quotes, things I love, books, Gilmore Girls, etc.). I feel like there’s a plan and a vision now; I feel like I can successfully move forward with the blog without losing focus or direction. And that’s good, and I’m happy.

I’m really looking forward to this next chapter of the blog, and I hope all of you are too. I’m really excited to see where it takes me.

BrittanyM

Pondering the Writing Process

For as long as I can remember, I have written. Of course there was some writing that was done exclusively for school assignments, and as time has gone on the amount of writing for school has increased. That’s what happens when one chooses to be an English and Journalism double major. But a lot of the writing I do is for myself. I keep a real paper and pen journal that I write in daily and I have for a long time. I have this blog where I write daily. And in general I tend to write a lot. I write lists and outlines and stories and (sometimes) poems. A large part of my life centers on writing.

And with writing comes the writing process. Sometimes the writing process is great and sometimes it really isn’t. I love compiling lists and writing out different story ideas. For me that’s a lot of fun. And I love writing the initial draft of something. What I’m not as good at is finishing stories once I’ve started them and I’m even worse at revising my own personal writing. These are things I can do when I’m writing for school or writing for an internship. But when it comes to my own writing that no one else ever really sees, I’m not as good at those things. I think it has to do with the fact that no one sees the stories or poems that I write.

Ultimately I do love the writing process, and writing in general. It’s something that I’m confident doing and feel that I’m good at. It’s often how I sort out things and decompress at the end of the day. I love to write and plan on doing it for as long as I can.

BrittanyM