Writing Fears

Recently, my Facebook friend Valerie, posted a blog entry about her experiences in writing. Here's what she said: 

I feared writing in English. I detested writing in English. I did not have much of a problem with my grammar but I was terribly weak in idea generation, word choice and stringing my thoughts accurately and fluently. 

Valerie blogs regularly now and she says:

Never have I imagined myself to have developed a love for writing. Writing, especially in English, was the last things I swore I would like. In my tertiary education years, I dreaded reading and writing assignments. I did not fail any of those but I hardly scored good grades. I was a below average writer. My only saving grace was my grammar and spelling. 

I think many of us can identify with Valerie's feelings and fears about writing. I used to be very shy about my own writing too. I only learnt to share my writing after I got married. I had to share my writing with my husband who was helping to proof read my assignments then! Later, I learnt more about writing when I was doing post-graduate studies. Writing isn't hard for me but writing well is altogether a different kettle of fish. 

I am sure you all want to know how Valerie conquered her fear of writing and what she found out about the secret to writing well. You can read all about it here: http://amothersjournal.livejournal.com/180822.html. 

 

Everyone can write!

When I was a student in the US, I joined a writing group in my community. This was a motley group of mostly Americans. There was a plumber who was very prolific and wrote very well. There were a few students, a nurse and assorted unemployed people trying to write their first novel. And there was me, trying to learn something about writing.

The wonderful thing was that everyone there called themselves writers. That was quite an eye opener for me because Singaporeans will never call themselves a writer if they don't have a book sitting on the shelves of Popular Book Store. But if you write, then you must be a writer. Since then, I am convinced that we are all writers, if we choose to write.

Writing should not be reserved for professional writers alone. Everyone can and should write because writing helps us think and writing helps us document our history.

The goal of this blog is to encourage everyone to write. In particular, we want to see Singaporeans writing  about their everyday lives. We want writing to be demystified. We are not saying writing is easy; no, it isn't. Writing requires the same kind of hard practice that tennis players put into their game. But there's nothing like practice to perfect our craft like practice and in the case of writing, reading is also important.

We hope to share ideas about writing, examples of good writing, and talk about what we are writing. We want you to join us in creating a community of writers who enjoy writing and who see the value in writing. If you need help with your writing, we can help you too.

So join us; let your friends know about our blog and let's write!