“Stipula fountain pen” by Power_of_Words_by_Antonio_Litterio.jpg: Antonio Litterio
derivative work: InverseHypercube – Power_of_Words_by_Antonio_Litterio.jpg. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
A recent post by Barbara O’Neal on the creative writing blog Writer Unboxed is sure to touch the hearts of many aspiring writers. It is titled “Letter to My Aspiring Writer Self”and speaks to the internal and external struggles and worries that new writers face as they take the step towards writing with the purpose of publication.
The writing task was inspired by the blog So You’re A Writer, where writers are encouraged to write according to a prompt that is given. The Blog’s owner, romance novelist Carrie Butler, hopes to compile these letters in a free eBook to be “offered to writers who are just starting on their road to publication, using advice from the most brilliant, up-and-coming voices in the industry.”
The basic prompt is:
“Please write a letter/note to yourself when you first started writing toward publication…”
It’s the kind of writing therapy that is helpful to inspire new writers, but also acts a reflective exercise for accomplished writers. In its reverse, that is, writing a letter to your future, accomplished writer self as a new writer, would be equally interesting to do. As an aspiring writer, such an exercise could be therapeutic and useful in helping you understand your creative writing goals–it doesn’t have to be your ultimate goals, but perhaps goals that you have for the next 2-5 years. Either way, it is worth a try to write and to read.
Below is an excerpt of Barbara O’Neal’s Writer Unboxed post:
Dear New, Young, Passionate, Painfully Aspiring Writer Self:
I am looking at you with great tenderness. Your passion for your craft, your hunger for publication, your commitment to continue to try makes my heart swell with pride. It is not easy, what you’re doing, writing, or rather, writing with the full intent to publish. It’s easy to write if you are doing it only for yourself. It’s only a joy, then, a secret pleasure, a tattoo on your inner thigh that you share only with your most intimate associates…
Interested in participating? Visit So You’re A Writer: How I Found the Write Path!
Happy Writing!
JCU // Creative Writing Workshop 
