How Will You Celebrate I Love To Write Day?

(NOTE: This is a revised post)

November 15, 2018 will be the 16th annual I Love To Write Day. I usually feature it in my post on that mid-November day but am giving you advance notice. It's the one day of the year that everyone is encouraged to write. Doesn't matter what it is--just write! A thank you note qualifies, but so does a poem, a story, a two paragraph description or memory piece. So, mark your calendars now. Save that date!

Personally, I celebrate this day every day because writing is something that satisfies me like nothing else. I'm willing to bet that my blood pressure evens out to normal whenever I write. It pleases me to string words together in hopes that they will touch the heart and soul of at least a few people who read them. Maybe my words will provide pertinent information or entertain someone. When I finish a writing project, no matter how long or short, I have a sense of accomplishment greater than when I do anything else. 

I like words. I like putting words together. I like creating stories and poems from those many words. I enjoy doing crossword puzzles because they are filled with words, unlike those Sudoku puzzles that irritate me to no end. Some people love them. Must depend on whether you're a number person or one addicted to the beauty of words. There is no doubt which category I fall into. I have committed a cardinal sin in the writing world because I used words five times in this paragraph. It's to be excused for this day only!

I've heard far too many people say they hate writing. They offer a number of reasons, but one I hear frequently is that it is because of a teacher (or teachers) who made it a chore instead of pleasure or who ridiculed the results of an assigned essay. Sad that they who should be the greatest proponents of writing for enjoyment sometimes end up being the biggest discouragers. Maybe part of it is because we were often assigned the topic, not left to create our own subject. On the other hand, when the teacher said to write on anything of your choice, we sometimes sat there with a blank slate in our mind. 

I hope that teachers and parents will encourage children to write. We push reading at all levels today, which is wonderful. But I'd like to see more emphasis placed on writing. Mary Lane Kamberg, a Kansas author, has a fine book of tips for young people who want to write. She includes exercises in The I Love To Write Book--Tips and Ideas for Young People.

Whether you are a teacher, a parent, or a grandparent, I hope you will do what you can to promote the joy of writing to the young people you know today. There's plenty of time before November 15th to plan an event or project to celebrate I Love To Write Day.  

John Riddle, a Delaware-based writer, is responsible for giving us this one day of the year to celebrate writing. Read about the history of this day here. You have close to a week to think about what you will do to celebrate I Love to Write Day. You can do it on your own or encourage others to write that day, as well.