One of the fun things about writing is when you can share that love with family! This week, my cousin, Katie, is here, talking about her writing experiences.
In a nutshell, what do you write?
For fun I write poems, stories, and journal a LOT. For work, I edit papers, novels, and resumes as well as write academic papers.
Sounds like you - helping people in your writing. :) What spurred on the desire for writing?
I have enjoyed writing for as long as I can remember. A friend of mine and I used to write stories together, which was inspired by another friend of mine in high school who was writing stories and I decided to test out my skill.
How do you balance writing with living? Because I know you have a TON on your plate right now!
It's a really delicate balance for me. I have a career as a therapist, so most of my writing to-date has been academic. Journaling has helped me tremendously as a person and a writer. It has allowed my perfectionistic nature to learn to be okay with mistakes and has provided invaluable insight, clarity, and the ability to view emotion-riddled circumstances in a more objective manner (which in turn, helps with my career). An added bonus is I can look back on past experiences and see themes and patterns of behavior, thought, feelings, and even writing!
Good point about journaling. I have heard over and over how much that helps a writer (you'd think I would journal more since I "know" this). Who do you hope to reach with your writing?
For fun I write poems, stories, and journal a LOT. For work, I edit papers, novels, and resumes as well as write academic papers.
Sounds like you - helping people in your writing. :) What spurred on the desire for writing?
I have enjoyed writing for as long as I can remember. A friend of mine and I used to write stories together, which was inspired by another friend of mine in high school who was writing stories and I decided to test out my skill.
How do you balance writing with living? Because I know you have a TON on your plate right now!
It's a really delicate balance for me. I have a career as a therapist, so most of my writing to-date has been academic. Journaling has helped me tremendously as a person and a writer. It has allowed my perfectionistic nature to learn to be okay with mistakes and has provided invaluable insight, clarity, and the ability to view emotion-riddled circumstances in a more objective manner (which in turn, helps with my career). An added bonus is I can look back on past experiences and see themes and patterns of behavior, thought, feelings, and even writing!
Good point about journaling. I have heard over and over how much that helps a writer (you'd think I would journal more since I "know" this). Who do you hope to reach with your writing?
I hope to reach others who are struggling in an inspirational and encouraging way.
If someone asked you for your best writing tip, what would it be?
Get everything out on the page. Don't worry about errors/typos, just get it all down on paper then go back and edit it. I've found for myself that I would oftentimes get stuck in the editing process and miss my original, intended message. Also, writing is a gift and you are a gift to the world - so write with confidence! You have a story to tell.
Yes indeed! Love those tips! What are three things that you greatly enjoy doing?
Encouraging, inspiring, and helping others to become the best and healthiest version of themselves that they can possibly be.
If someone asked you for your best writing tip, what would it be?
Get everything out on the page. Don't worry about errors/typos, just get it all down on paper then go back and edit it. I've found for myself that I would oftentimes get stuck in the editing process and miss my original, intended message. Also, writing is a gift and you are a gift to the world - so write with confidence! You have a story to tell.
Yes indeed! Love those tips! What are three things that you greatly enjoy doing?
Encouraging, inspiring, and helping others to become the best and healthiest version of themselves that they can possibly be.
ABOUT KATIE
Katie developed a love for writing in the first grade when her teacher assigned a short story for a class assignment. Throughout her teenage years, inspired by her own and many others’ stories of trauma and abuse, she wrote poems and short stories with themes related to abuse, betrayal, grief/loss, trauma, and abandonment. Her passion for assisting others, birthed through a heart of compassion, has landed her with a Masters in Social Work, where she currently works therapeutically with individuals and families to navigate through past or present histories of abuse, trauma, grief/loss, abandonment, and life’s daily stressors. From academic papers to books, Katie has utilized her natural, intuitive abilities to write and edit from both personal and objective standpoints. Having been credited with “a gift for writing”, Katie has been able to utilize writing therapeutically (both professionally and personally) to encourage, inspire, and assist others to become the healthiest (and best) version of themselves they can possibly become.
Katie, how were able to start making your career writing related? I would love to hear more about that process.
ReplyDeleteKatie, how did you make helping people with their writing your career? I would love to hear more about that.
ReplyDeleteThank you again Allison for your question! Although it's not my primary career, I help people with their writing careers mainly by providing editorial services.
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