Discover the kind of writing I’ve done and learn about my reasons for writing. I wrote this “why I write” essay for the Minor in Writing gateway course. This creative essay takes you through my life as a writer and allows you to see where I have been, where I currently am, and where I plan to go in the future.
Occupation: Journal writer
Audience: Myself
Motive: Relaxation
I am sixteen years old standing in my kitchen arguing with my parents over something silly like a house party I wasn’t allowed to attend or how I think life is unfair. My disappointment turns into anger and my anger into sadness. Before I know it, I am sent up to my bedroom to cool down. Still shaken by the negative experience and agony I caused not only to myself, but also to my parents, I sit on my bed and cry. I feel so many different emotions at once, but most of all I am mad—mad at myself for making such a big deal out of nothing. I pull out my journal, open up to a fresh page and begin writing. Only now do I know everything is going to be okay. Or at least it appears that way as I spill my heart out in words.
At moments like this, writing is all that matters. The rest of the world is shut off and my thoughts travel from mind to pencil to paper. Sometimes I write in paragraph form and my ideas flow in chronological order, other times I scribble down every idea hoping to free them from my cluttered mind and still other times I write organized lists. I write to express myself
Occupation: Student
Audience: My teachers
Motive: Getting good grades
I am eighteen years old sitting in my AP English class. My teacher assigns academic paper after academic paper. I am not a happy camper, but since I want to maintain my 4.0 I put a lot of time and effort into each paper. I take a position, conduct research, and spend way more time than I’d like crafting the perfect paper just to please my teacher.
There is nothing relaxing or fulfilling or freeing about this type of writing. I absolutely dread it. To me, writing academic papers feels forced, like sitting through a documentary about wildlife in the rainforest. At this moment I am not a fan of writing. The strict guidelines and cookie-cutter paper topics are enough to steer me away from writing forever. The only aspect of academic writing that pleases me is being done with the paper and receiving an A. I write to get good grades.
Occupation: Blogger
Audience: Anyone with internet access
Motive: Freedom
I am nineteen years old applying for my first online internship. It’s an editorial internship position for a fashion, beauty and lifestyle publication. I am unfamiliar with the world of blogging but am intrigued by the whole process. I make it past the first round and then I am asked to submit a writing sample. I construct an article called “A Salon Style Blowout in Your Own Bathroom.” Shortly after, I am offered the position.
This is the first of many writing internships I’ve been offered over the past year and a half. I am happy because it means I must be a good writer. I write about fashion trends and boy problems and frat parties; the kind of writing I love. My own life experiences are instantly activated as I use them as the source of my writing. I believe that writing should come from the heart and this is why these topics are so prominent in my writing repertoire. I close my eyes and see the connection between this and my journal-writing days. I am free to write about topics I’m passionate about. This is much better than writing an English assignment that requires me to analyze a book I had no interest in reading to begin with. I now know that writing is much more than a standard five-paragraph essay. Like a small-town girl escaping to a big city for the first time, I finally feel free—free to be me, free to write in a style that fits me. There is no more faking a perfectly crafted position paper when really neither position appealed to me in the first place. At this moment, as I open up a blank Word document and begin typing, I am able to show the world the true me. I write to free myself.
Occupation: Magazine journalist
Audience: StyleLine readers
Motive: Passion, advancing in my future profession
I am twenty years old working as an editorial intern for StyleLine magazine. I’m in charge of the designer spotlight monthly feature which means I’m assigned a new local designer to interview each month. The rest is up to me (as long as I fit the brand of the magazine, of course). I approach this writing assignment without having much prior professional interview experience. I develop my own writing process: do research, write questions, conduct the interview and begin writing. The moment I see my name in print for the first time in a real magazine, I feel so proud of my accomplishments. It is unlike anything else I have ever experienced. This is when I know writing is the career for me.
Each time I see my name in print my destiny and affinity for writing becomes clearer and clearer. Not only is writing for a magazine my career aspiration; it is my passion. I am lucky to have had the opportunity to write for a magazine while still in college. My desire to write about fashion and beauty and boys is no longer just a thought bubble in my head. It is a tangible experience that is here for the taking. These topics are more than the guiding themes of my writing; they are the guiding themes of my life. I write to feel the passion.
As I go back in time to each of these vivid writing experiences, I am able to pinpoint exactly why I write. Now don’t get me wrong, the answer to a question that begins with “why” is never a simple one, but as I organize my thoughts and express myself in words, I am able to define specific reasons why I write. I see the connection in these experiences and I see the connection between me and my prose. The feeling of relaxation I gain from journaling allows me to view my inner passions in words. It’s a freeing feeling because as I release myself from negative emotions I am able to discover what it is that truly makes me happy and allows me to live a pretty little lifestyle. The abstract ideas laid out on the pages of my journal outline my passion for writing about fashion and beauty and boys. I write because I enjoy the process and the end result. Although I love to see my name in print, writing is about more than the completed article. It’s about emotion and passion and power. It’s about understanding what you’re thinking. It’s about going after your dreams and writing because you care, not because your teacher told you to.
Occupation: Freelance writer, author, entrepreneur
Audience: The world
Motive: Fulfilling my dream
I am twenty-two years old and just graduated from college. I’m working as a freelance writer, author and entrepreneur. I just received my first assignment from Glamour Magazine. This is a dream come true. I begin writing a self-help book for teenage girls and make plans to start my own online magazine. All in all, I never stop writing. I sit in a pink chair in my high rise apartment in NYC with on a raspberry latte in hand. I pick up “The New York Times” and on the front page is an article all about me. At this moment, I am the reader, but in my heart I will always be the writer.
The Girl Who Loved to Write
By Clara Sharini
Shelby Township resident and freelance writer Erica Avesian takes her creative passion to the next level by launching The Pretty Little Lifestyle. This young writer graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in communications and a minor in writing. She is known by UofM alumni and past classmates as the girl who was involved in everything.
Avesian grew up living a pretty little lifestyle full of love, happiness, fun (and lots of cute clothes!) and knew she wanted to share her life lessons with the world. This go-getter was well on her way to success in high school where she was a student leader and valedictorian. Avesian continued on this path in college by being actively involved in various fashion and writing student organizations.
It’s no surprise she decided to put her talents to work by starting up The Pretty Little Lifestyle which is an online fashion, beauty, dating and lifestyle magazine catered to women ages 18-24. Avesian started this project as a personal blog while in college to document the happy events in her life, from shoe shopping to man-hunting, and decided to roll with the idea. “I wanted to create a site that would be 100% positive. That’s the message behind The Pretty Little lifestyle,” she says. Avesian’s successful online magazine is now the go-to site for women around the world.