just write: merely skin and bones.

she wasn't just a person,
to him she was much more.
she wasn't merely skin and bones,
but a universe to explore.

and so he put his faith in her,
though somewhat undeserved.
he just knew that she would save him,
for she knew he needed her.

but she couldn't save him,
nor did she even try,
because she wasn't quite aware
of the way he felt inside.

and as his view of her grew dim
and quickly changed back to bones and skin,
he learned a person is merely a person
no matter how much you hope in them.

Are Your Creative Words Important?

I love words and writing. Creative words and writing especially. Poems and books and stories and even blog posts, taking real life and writing about it creatively. I love writing it and I love reading it. Creative words are wonderful. But sometimes, I wonder if they really matter.

This morning, 22,000 words into a book that I hope is actually a book one day, I'm asking myself that question. Does it really matter? 

Because yes, I love creative words. But they aren't paying my bills yet, they aren't prestigious, they aren't solving a problem. So do they matter? Do anyone's creative words really matter?

I have to believe that the answer is yes.

Because sometimes, the reality of life is hard.

Creative writing isn't pretend. It's taking parts of real life and molding them into magical. It's working through the hard stuff under characters that you pretend aren't you, but you know are, in some small way.

It's taking the best things and the worst things that have ever happened to you and polishing them up or roughening them up and turning them into a story that you're proud of.

It's solving a problem that you'll never really solve, working something out in the process.

It's making words rhyme, because that's something you can do. When you can't find beauty anywhere else, it's making your own. And if you can make the world even just a little bit more beautiful, don't you think that's important?

Your words are important. Whether they are fiction or non-fiction, they are still true. And they are important.

And if you're a writer, they are important because if for nothing else, they make you come alive.

just write: great escape.

sweet like when the summer
first kisses your skin,
for the first time since December
you feel happy again.
so why don’t you pack your bags
and let’s just get away
before it gets any colder
we can make a grand escape.

just write: heartbeats and time.

always chasing after something, 
even when we’re not sure what it is.
we chase down every possibility, 
because we hate the words, “what if?”
we don’t have too much money,
but we don’t really mind. 
we’d rather pay our dues 
with our heartbeats and our time. 
because we know there are things
that money cannot buy, 
but if we have each other, 
we swear, we can almost fly. 

just write: eight thousand and seven hundred chances.

sometimes when people say to me, 
"do you remember when?"
I have to really stop and think,
for I’ve changed so much since then. 

more than eight thousand and seven hundred hours 
to make up a single year
eight thousand and seven hundred chances
to make my old self disappear 

I’m quite a bit different than I was
just fifty-two weeks ago,
because I’m changing, bit by bit
with each new place I go. 

I change with everything I see, 
and everything I do,
and I’m becoming a new person
by adventuring with you. 

Why You Should Keep a Journal.

It gives you a chance to write without worry about spelling or syntax or cheesiness. You get to write whatever you want without having to think through what it's going to sound like to other people. It's just yours.

It helps you work through things. Sometimes you find yourself in a position where you want to talk about what's going on, but you really don't want anyone's advice other than your own. That's when a journal is a great thing to have.

You can write down why you're upset, who you're mad at, what you're excited about, how you screwed up, and not have to listen to any responses or suggestions.

It gives you something to look back on and see how you've grown. If you journal semi-regularly, you can flip back and see how you've grown and changed. How last year you reacted much differently to having your heart broken. How you used to use the word "impressive" in every other sentence. How what you journal about changes over the years.

There's no one better to tell you about how you've grown and changed than you.

It helps capture the little moments. I love instagram, because I can scroll through my feed and be reminded of all these memories. Journaling is like that, but with everything. You may not instagram how a stranger complimented you on your hair and it totally turned your day around, but you could write it down. You can't instagram the feeling of falling asleep on the couch next to the love of your life, but you can write about it.

Journaling helps you remember and savor the little moments that may not be deemed social media worthy, but are really the important things.

There are no rules. Want to journal once a day? Once a month? Whenever you feel like it? Awesome. Want to draw or scribble or write in terrible cursive? Great.

It's yours, so you can do whatever you feel like. It's not another stressful thing to add to your to-do list. It's just a creative outlet to track your memories. Do whatever you want to with it.

There are some seriously pretty journals. Like this one. And this one. Priorities, obviously.

Do you keep a journal?

Just Keep Writing: A Letter to NaNoWriMo Writers.

via

If you finished NaNoWriMo, congratulations, you are amazing. You wrote 50,000 words in 30 days, and that is an incredible accomplishment.

Now, you have to keep writing. The same hustle that made you write those 50,000 words is going to be needed to polish them, to change them, and to turn them into a book you're proud of. You can do it, because you now know that you can do anything you set out to do. So keep writing, you little writer, you.

If you almost finished NaNoWriMo, congratulations, you are amazing. I bet you wrote more words this month than any other month in your life, and that's fantastic. While you may have not reached your word count goal, you have the words and the stories and the ideas and the creativity.

So keep writing. Don't let all the stories you brainstormed during November stay locked in your head. Write them down.

If you barely started NaNoWriMo, congratulations, you are amazing. You wrote the first words of the first pages, and sometimes that is the hardest part. You're going to be tempted to wait until next November to really try to write a lot. Don't do that. You started something amazing, so keep it going. You lit a flame inside you...keep that burning.

Keep writing. A few words a day, a few pages a day, anything. Just keep writing.

And finally, if you thought about doing NaNoWriMo, but never got around to starting, congratulations, you are amazing. You've identified something you want to do--you want to write a book.

So start writing that book. Don't wait for November, don't wait for 2015, don't wait for tomorrow. Write the first words today.

If you finished NaNoWriMo, or if you almost finished NaNoWriMo, or if you barely started NaNoWriMo...

Good freaking job. 

Keep writing. Keep putting "write 1,667 words" on your to-do list. Keep scribbling away in your notebook, writing your ideas and dreams down. 

Because November is just a starting point. 

Congratulations, you are a writer. So keep writing. 

Did you participate in NaNoWriMo this year? How did it go for you?