This Wednesday my writing class started up again after winter break. I’m going through the nonfiction writing program at the University of Washington Extension. Lawrence Cheek, our instructor, wrote “my writing life” on the whiteboard and had us write about that subject for 10 minutes. Here’s what I wrote with minor edits:

My writing life has been inconsistent. When I was in junior high schoool my science teahcer would take time out of class once per week to have us write. I’m not sure why. I usually wrote funny stories based on the pop-culture of the day. Then I didn’t write much afterward. I kept sporadic journals.

In high school my 10th grade honors English teacher told me that he liked the way I wrote, but that he wasn’t sure my future teachers would appreciate my voice that much. He dscribed my writing as the way I talked. It was very conversational and casual.

Once in college I wrote and submitted a poem to the English department’s literary journal, Second Essence. With a few edits my poem was selected to be included in the journal. Other than that my professors didn’t have a lot of good things to say about my writing. One wrote,”You write like you talk—a stream of consciousness.” Another advised,”Make an appointment with the writing lab.” I distinctly remember writing a personal reflection paper for Economics class, even weeping at some parts, only to get it back with a C+ on the first page.

I’ve never felt that I’ve impressed anyone with my writing save a few friends, my 7th grade science class, and, of course, my mom. Sometime in high school or college I learned all about writing objectively—the kind where you remove all feeling and opinion from your writing. Often his is found in business and other more serious subjects—professional subjects.

I haven’t taken the time to hone my voice to my advantage. I know I have a lot of ideas and thoughts worthy of print. I just haven’t figured out how to communicate them the best way—a way that people can understand and possibly even laugh out loud.