Write What's Hard

By Claire Enos

I've been learning a lot this semester in my Creative Non-fiction class. A lot more than I ever planned on learning. Like I've mentioned before, I didn't mean to sign up for the class. It was an accident, but I chose to stay. I wanted to learn something new. And I have learned a lot!

One thing I learned a week or two ago, is that when you write creative non-fiction, you need to write what is hard for you to write. Things that you don't want anyone to know about, or things that just seem to be too hard to write. The best writers know how to use their experiences to enhance their writing. Everyone is different, everyone has been through different things that shaped them to create who they are today. But there is always going to be someone out there who understand what you went through. Who knows, what you write might actually help someone who is having problems with what you got through.

So, I think it's important to remember that the harder things are usually the things that might help others. Even if you write it just for yourself, to help you get through it, that's better than nothing. That's what makes a good writer a great writer.

In class today we talked about writing what's difficult again. We read a story that didn't so much deal with a difficult situation as a difficult emotion to deal with. Her emotions were tied to the fact that her and her husband were moving away after they'd made their house a home. It was interesting to see what can be done and how things can be written. I loved it.

Just some food for thought :)

<3Claire