I have been journaling for years. I have at least a dozen journals going back to 1996! (Perhaps you can call me a closet blogger) I write feelings, notes, prayers, things I am grateful for, questions, and answers to questions. You can mostly find me writing in the morning but really if the moment begs a thought...I will write it.
I'll let you in on a secret. I hated writing. I used to find writing painful. During my freshman year of college I had an English professor by the name of Anders. Anders sat me down in her office about mid way into the semester and told me I was a horrible writer. She told me I had no voice, no fluency, no ingenunity and I wrote way too many sentence fragments.
Nice...huh? Anders words scarred me and it bothered me that she never taught me what good writing was.
It wasn't until Leaver came into my life that I thought differently about writing. Not Leaver the soap but Mr. Leaver. Leaver taught English 102. I decided to meet with Leaver right away so I could tell him about my struggles with writing. On the way to his office I remember telling myself not to get worked up... "You did pass English 101 and you can only do better." I had brought him some older English papers to read so he could see my terrible writing. Sitting there in his office brought back painful memories and I am pretty sure my palms were sweaty. After reading the papers, he removed his glasses and looked at me and replied, "These papers are not terrible."
What? Can you repeat?
He continued with, "You have interesting ideas and voice. If anything needs some work it may be punctuation and we will go over that in class." I sat stunned in silence. Oh, what sweet music to my ears and my heart! My writing mojo was back. Take that Anders!
Have you ever gotten discouraging advice? What did you do? How have you overcome 'bad' words that someone may have said to you?
If I do hear discouraging words I do my best to turn those around so that can't be said of me anymore. You did just that. Happy for you that you didn't quit writing forever. I also have a dozen or more journals all in a box-one of my most prized (material) possessions :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you were given a second chance. I journaled for years too, and blogging has given me a purpose for all of my ramblings. I am thankful for all of those years of journaling though, it made me grow into a person that can actually help others with my words.
ReplyDeleteWell, I know that I didn't even know I was a writer until after college sometime. I also journaled like crazy and wrote poetry for my eyes only, but nothing special in English class prompted me to write I gain a sense of love for writing. Interesting how God works out the timing of all things...
ReplyDeleteHow sweet to find I'm with a SDG small group of like-minded women (we write in journals, etc.)
ReplyDeletePositive criticism offered in love is constructive and helpful-- but if not, it is discouraging and even hurtful. I'm glad you took the brave step of talking to another professor and that you kept writing.
I heard some discouraging words recently, and one thing that helped me to overcome that painful experience was to realize the person was speaking to me out of anger and hurt, and spoke without prayer or thought beforehand. I know it is a different situation than a teacher's words, but that really, really helped me to focus on the situation and not take it so personally (though I did take is personally, I admit, I struggled with that!)
I'm smiling at your love for journals. I think we're soul sisters.. I've got ALL of my journals from the days of junior high on up...a testimony of God's presence in all seasons! Can't believe my mom saved them all! I'm so glad God placed Mr. Leaver in your life. It's amazing how teachers can shape and mold us with just a line or two. Convicting for me, a "retired" writing teacher- and now a teacher in my home. I know why James writes ruthlessly about the power of the tongue. Glad your words didn't stop with Anders!
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