Writing Dreams

When I was a little girl my dream was to live in New York in an industrial loft while I worked as a writer and a magazine editor. As time went on, socialization kicked in and by the time I graduated high school I wanted to become a lawyer. Lucky for me a professor intervened halfway through undergrad and convinced me to pursue my Ph.D. But along the way, I forgot about my dreams of become a writer in the creative sense and become solely focused on how to read and write like an academic.

This summer, as I sat down to write my dissertation, I became aware of how long it’d been since I’d written something that wasn’t dictated by a school requirement or a conference deadline. For the first time in years, not only was my writing schedule self-directed, but the subject of my writing was as well. Along the way it re-awakened old memories about who my little girl self wanted to be.

So yesterday I decided to participate in the #30WriteNow challenge. Partially because I want to populate my blog with more posts. But also because I’ve committed myself to becoming a better writer and a more diverse writer. For the last couple of years I’ve allowed my fear of being judged as a  less-than academic and/or a poor writer, from providing myself with enough opportunities to refine my craft. So my hope is, that over the next thirty days I will have the opportunity to not only become a better writer, but to also continue to knock out dissertation chapters, as well as pitch some essays.

It’s an ambitious set of goals, but I know that the only way I can begin to accomplish any of them is if I practice, practice, and practice.