First, let me say that publishing one’s writing can be a soul changing experience that exposes the writer to harsh criticism and/or lavish praise. At least, that is how it is for me as a writer. Whether you are a teacher blogger or a contemporary novel writer, the act of going public is about bearing your soul to others. Writing in a public way such as this makes you vulnerable.
But there’s a lot to be said for not going public, and just writing for yourself. The kind of writing I’m referring to here is the kind most often found in journals. Although I’ve always kept a journal of one kind or another, I’m rediscovering this kind of cathartic writing to help see me through difficult personal and professional situations. You could say it has become my main morning ritual. It cleanses my soul and allows me to go deeper than I might when I publish a post; the private writing is just for me and I can say anything I want to without feeling judged.
So, thanks to Stacey’s post about a site called 750 words, on her blog (Two Writing Teachers http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/750-words/), I am now on a 14-day streak! That means that I have been writing a minimum of 750 words for the 14th day in a row. It feels good to be doing this every morning when I first wake up. It’s my brain dump for the day. At first, I found that I was writing in a stream of consciousness style only but over time I’ve discovered that this kind of writing allows me to solve problems on paper that had been bothering me when I went to sleep and were still nudging at me when I woke up. I feel so much better at the end of my 750 words. I often write over 800 and I could probably keep going but I have to set a time limit otherwise I might be late for work every morning!
Sometimes, I’ve had to write my 750 words by hand and then typed them into the website later because I’m on a daily writing challenge this month.
So far, so good.
So far, so good that I’m writing every day about whatever comes into my mind at the moment.
So far, so good that I’m working out thorny problems through my writing.
So far, so good that I’m not censoring myself and no one else is censoring me either.
So far, so good that I have challenged myself to keep going whether or not I want to.
So far, so good that I’ve seen the positive effects that writing things down as they surface in my head, first thing in the morning, has on the rest of my day.
Elisa Waingort 
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