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Attending the Miracle
is a worldwide community of people who live with disabling conditions. As a positive resource, a focal point, and a forum, Attending the Miracle is a powerful way for individuals, families, and professionals to find inspiration, learning and networking; a path to recognition and expression of their extraordinary viewpoints in the world.
Journals
Others may benefit from reading your journal submissions.
If you keep a journal, please Contact Us with excerpts you would like to share.
If you don't keep a journal, this page will help you learn more about writing for enhancement of your own life and the lives of others.
How to Write a Journal
- Rule Number One: There are no rules. Write whatever comes into your head. It doesn't matter. In fact, in days gone by, ordinary people kept diaries that recorded such things as rainfall, or whether they spent the morning ironing clothes or going to the green grocer. The important thing is to get started and write something every day.
- Don't try to make it perfect. First drafts are always messy. Writing is not writing -- it's rewriting. Get your thoughts down and come back to them later. Writing is not a performance art. You can always change it later.
- Be concrete. Don't write in abstractions. Write about the real things, people, and events in your life.
- Be active. Don't say,
Tears were shed.
Say, I cried.
Put yourself or some other character at the center of the action.
- Be emotional. People want to know what you feel. Information is nice, but it means nothing without emotion, which gives it significance. Say what happened, but also say what it meant to you or what it made you (or someone else) feel.
- Write about people. People are most interested in other people. Quote them, describe them, and animate them to populate your world.
- Find your voice. It's there already, but you probably only use it when speaking casually to friends. It may appear in your informal e-mails or letters. But when confronted with the task of
writing
for real, you may freeze up. Relax. Pretend you're writing to your best friend, your mother, your sister, or whoever you feel close to. Gradually, your voice will emerge.
- Practice. Some days you may feel that you have nothing to say. Commit to spending a certain amount of time working on your writing every day. If you have nothing to say, just write whatever comes into your head. You'll find that soon this exercise will generate other thoughts. You may surprise yourself; you have something to say after all.
- Read good stuff to generate ideas.
