My Journal Experience

                          

             Throughout the semester I have been writing a journal as an assignment. The assignment consisted in making an entry 4 to 5 time a week, only one entry per day. We were told to write freely and pick our own subjects to write about. During a 10 minute period we were to write what first came to our minds and just keep writing continuously. Even random thoughts that would seem to make no sense to others are encouraged. Stopping to think about what to write next or correct grammar should be avoided as much as possible in order to truly write freely.

            My finished diary held 40 entries of free writing total. Each of this entries was followed by a brief description documenting your writing experience. The toughest part of the free writing was precisely writing freely. I would have thought that not having a specific subject and being allowed to write "messy-ish" would make it easier, but I really struggled a lot with finding the necessary creativity to keep writing without stopping.   After writing these 40 entries I noticed how my writing skills had improved noticeably. I noticed my writing became faster and more fluid, I had stop less to look for the right words, and writing the entries was more pleasant after a while. My creative abilities have improved, that I know because I used to spend about a full two minutes just thinking about what to write and know the ideas come popping to my head much faster. Still I didn't notice much improvement in my grammar, which has always been dread full. I used to struggle creating good sentences. My fist entries consisted of very short sentences that didn't quite capture my exact thoughts, after some practice sentences started becoming longer and making more sense.

             There is a particular entry which I enjoyed really much. I was going through kind of rough patch and wasn't quite sure about what it was that was bugging me. On one day I sat down to write my entry as usual and the firs thought that came to my mind was about my problem which had to do with defining my identity. I was really able to just empty my mind on the journal as if I were talking to a friend. The writing on this entry was really fluid and sentences were really profound and self examinatory.  After writing the entry I found the root of what was originally bugging me. This made me feel really relieved about myself and since that day I started to enjoy and appreciate the importance of keeping a journal. This journal became a valuable tool for venting and organizing my thoughts when faced with a blurry idea.

            I learned that I am my best self at writing when I write about something that matters  and that actually means something to me. I found that I could actually be a good writer if I manage to enjoy it and practice on my diary even more.

            I was skeptical about the assignment, but that has changed completely. I exhort everyone to have their own journal to vent their ideas with.