#teachingisfun

This is the 6th day of the blogging challenge – Bloganuary from WordPress. Today’s topic is “Why do you write?”

I’ve always loved writing! 

It all started with beautiful colorful pens, pencils, and different notebooks.

School

I’ve always loved the process of writing on paper. At school, stationery and notebooks were extremely important to me. I remember the times when I used to go to a big store where they were selling all that cool stationery. It was like a candy shop for others. 

I would save money, write down a wish list and buy things I liked.

At school, I had terrible grades in the Ukrainian language. The teacher hated me, and it was mutual. She never explained anything well. 

In high school, I enrolled in a private language school where we had fancy British coursebooks and workbooks. I liked the lessons, and my teacher liked me too. One of my favorite parts was writing essays. Oh, God, how much I loved it! And I did well.

Occasionally I wrote some poems and short stories in Ukrainian and English. 

Journalism

In high school, I’ve always wanted to work and do what I loved. Then, as I turned 18, I had a legal right to work. Woohoo! 

I had no experience. I mean nothing meaningful. 

I bought all the local newspapers and picked up one or two I liked. Then, I went to one of the offices.

/knock-knock/ 

– Hi 

– Hi

– I would like to work as a journalist at your newspaper. 

– Do you have any experience?

– Nope. 

– Ok, come in. You can be our freelance journalist.

At that point, I understood I could get paid for writing about things I liked.

Me. Getting paid. For things. I liked. At 18.

I worked for several newspapers and local T.V. (where I wrote texts for “voice-overs”).

At 19, I became a member of the Union of Journalists of Ukraine. So, I guess I wrote well. 

Writing for writing

At the same time, I used to write many love stories (nonfiction) and blog posts about my life. 

To make a long story short, these quotes explain pretty much everything. 

Most of the time ― “Sometimes stories cry out to be told in such loud voices that you write them just to shut them up.” ― Stephen King

Often ― “Writing is not life, but I think that sometimes it can be a way back to life.” ― Stephen King, On Writing

“Words create sentences; sentences create paragraphs; sometimes paragraphs quicken and begin to breathe.” ― Stephen King

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. “― Ray Bradbury

“Write drunk, edit sober.”

“Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, ok? Getting happy.” ― Stephen King

“You fail only if you stop writing. ” ― Ray Bradbury

All in all, writing brings me joy (and being paid for writing is an extra bonus).

If this text was not for the Bloganuary challenge, I would have had more time to brush it up and finish. 

Nevertheless, it is a good topic to think about and, perhaps, to write more about it. 

P.S. I’d like to thank many people who supported me in writing. Sending you hugs.