Back Again

I need to start writing again. Seriously. Have I mentioned before that I really do want to write? Books, articles, journal entries…I don’t really care. I just know that it’s something I’m good at (this particular post is probably not the best example, seeing as how it’s nearly 2 AM) and something I love…too much to completely waste on lesson plans alone. So again, I come back to the same question: where do I start? Honestly, I have nothing terribly exciting to write about. At the moment, I have this idea brewing in the back of my mind…one that’s fairly unrealistic, but maaaybe possible. I really do want to get myself published in the English Journal, NCTE’s professional journal for secondary ELA teachers. I have the start of an article already, one about how communication technology has changed the way students use language and how we can embrace these changes rather than try to “fix” them. Ok, so I’m sure this does not sound even remotely interesting to any person with a shred of sanity left in them, but I am thrilled. At this point, that’s the only tangible idea I can see that has even the slightest possibility of coming to fruition. And it’s a good start, really. Actually being able to say that I’ve been published in a professional journal would be pretty awesome (and look fantastic on a resume!), but I don’t want it to stop there. While I definitely care about writing instruction and all things education-related, I so want to write about something that’s slightly more human, you know?

I’ve already established that fiction is simply not going to work for me. I can string words together well enough, but I just do not have the creative ability to completely make up characters, plots, conflicts, resolutions etc. etc. all on my own. I don’t believe I would get past the first chapter. I’ve also determined that I cannot write about anything that I have not personally experienced. Maybe it’s a mental block, but it just feels too dishonest and freezes my words and ideas so that I truly cannot go anywhere that I haven’t really gone. This narrows down my options quite a bit. I laughed when Stacey told me to “Just write about your life,” to which I promptly responded, “And who would want to read that?!” Bless her heart, she assured me that she would, of course, if only to have a more detailed description of how I was complete slacker and procrastinator as early as kindergarten (long story, maybe one for another night).

Here’s what I DO know: this desire I have to write is not a new one. It may have been lying dormant for a little while, but sooner or later, it always comes back to this. And I always find myself asking the same questions…Where to start? What to write? You know what I think? I think that God places dreams and desires within our hearts for a very specific purpose, and that purpose will always be to glorify His name in some way or another. I don’t know how the Lord wants me to use this dream for Him, but I’m planning on asking.