Life is a Beach

   Hello from the beach. I've recently taken a trip to the west coast as a start for my summer. It's cloudy and the breeze from the Pacific is chilly, but it's been a great trip. Today's picture is of a little art project I created in the sand. I prowled the surf for little stones and broken shells to form a picture of a sun umbrella by the ocean.
    I think travel is a great opportunity for writers and people in general. Going out and seeing the world adds to your treasure trove of memories and experience to use in your writing or life. Of course you don't need to hop on a plane and travel into the jungles of Africa. Taking a closer look at the environment around you, obverse the people in the local deli, sit in your back yard and watch the squirrels, or just pondering on the mysteries of life can broaden your view. Life is the greatest inspiration and it can give you the greatest tools for any creative person. Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird based off of her home town, friends, family, and seemingly the Scottsboro trials. Another example: my little arrangement in the sand. I used what the beach had to offer to create a lovely design. Savour everything life has to offer, because the world is constantly changing and is never precisely the same.

Dear Diary

Journaling is a well beloved hobby by many. It's a good writing exercise and a great way to keep memories.
Why is it a great writing exercise? For the most part whenever you write you're exercising, but in a journal you write about the way you feel. Learning how phrase an emotion is the essence of writing. Now, the most common excuse I hear from people who don't keep a journal or have one and just don't write in it is they don't have the time. It just so happens that's the exact same excuse I hear from people who don't finish their stories. In turn, if you can keep a journal than you can finish a story.

Autobiographies, most people don't read them for fun, but they are used for research papers and history. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is well known example. Now someday in the faraway future when you're old and decrepit and wanting to write about your life story don't you think that would be a lot easier if you had your journal for reference, instead of having to dig up old family pictures? Even if you don't want to publish your life, it would be nice to have those memories to look back on.

I've completed two journals and I'm on my third, and I'll tell you from experience that journaling has helped me become a better writer in more than one way. So start a journal today, you don't have to write something book-length everyday, just a few paragraphs every other day will be just fine.