How Writing Has Shaped My Everyday Life

(Thank you, Emily Drown, for submitting this question in my Q+A vlog! This was one of those that I couldn't possibly answer in a video, so here it is in a post. :)

I have been writing for almost three years.

In some ways, that's not a long time, but that's also a very, very, very, very long time. SO MUCH CAN HAPPEN IN THREE YEARS! I ice skated for three years. I did gymnastics for three years. And now I've almost been writing for that amount of time. (crazy how passions change. Can't imagine writing ever changing, though.)

So how has writing shaped my everyday life?

This is just an amazing question, and I'm going to go right in and ramble about my thoughts. Let's do this.

Writing has basically changed the way I do everything. From when I wake up in the morning to when I lay my head on the pillow, most things have to do with writing.

Thinking about my characters. My story. The plot. How can I make it better? How can I improve the story? What else does it need? 

It's changed the way I read -- I look at things with more of a critical eye. I analyze the writing and flail over a beautiful sentence or character development. The same goes for movies -- how do they show a story? How can I tell a story in the same visual way, but with words?

(side note: I wish that writing would help me with writing essays and research papers, but unfortunately that's something creative writing hasn't aided me with. :P)

I now have so many online friends I connect with all the time. Skyping with them, flailing with them, writing, reading, and being the best of buddies. Without writing, I wouldn't know that they even existed. (Except when they someday become famous authors. ;)

That's... a weird thought. Without writing, I wouldn't be blogging, and we'd all be nameless nobodies to each other. o.o *has a small crisis thinking about that, and is immediately very thankful that we all are aware of each other's existence*

Writing has changed the way I look at things for inspiration. That old house isn't just an old house -- it has a story. That song -- there's a story. The forest of birch trees -- just another story in this giant and magical world. Everything has a story behind it.

I don't look at people the same as I used to. I'm trying to say this in a non-creepy and stalkerish way as possible, but I study people. How they interact. How their eyes thin into a happy scrunch when they laugh and how they might play with their hair when they're nervous.

Often when I'm in a crowd of people, I'm just amazed. Because every one of those people has a story. A dream. Fears. Hard moments, and good ones. 

And as a writer, I get to write about these people. For these people. It's a terrifying and wonderful thing.

Another drastic thing that's changed my everyday life because of writing, is the fact that EVERY SPARE MOMENT IS FILLED WITH WRITING. After school and work, then it's time to writewritewritewritewrite. If I'm not writing, I'm blogging or reading or social media-ing which all totally counts toward writing in a strange way. (blogging and social media --> platform. Reading --> inspiration, research, + so many things to learn through it.) 

It's exhausting. It is. Sometimes I just want to flop and lay on the floor and say, "THIS IS SO HARD." But if writing a book was easy, where would be the satisfaction of saying, "I did it," at the end? Being a writer is a special kind of warrior -- of pushing through this mentally and physically draining personal project and conquering it. 

(I don't even know WHAT I thought about before writing. Probably pizza. But I dunno, man. IT MUST BE SO WEIRD TO HAVE A MIND WITHOUT WRITING THOUGHTS CONSTANTLY RACING AROUND. o.o)

And most of all, writing has given me a dream. It's given me motivation and determination to get published and making my dream of becoming an author a reality. It's given me a passion to work as hard as I can so I can pursue publishing after high school.

Writing is an amazing thing, and it's crazy how much it's changed my everyday life. I don't know what I would be doing without writing. (probably reading 300 books a year. and scrolling through pinterest endlessly. )

Basically, writing has changed my everyday life drastically. Sometimes, more often than not, it's a scary journey with doubt and stress and so much mental energy... BUT it's also the best thing in the world, and it's so thrilling to be able to call myself a writer. I can't wait to someday have a published book to show for all of it. :D

// katie grace

how has writing shaped your everyday life?