From Chapter 1: Why Write—and How?

Writing can provide discovery, healing, rejuvenation, and enjoyment. It can help you to recognize who you are and what you’ve accomplished. It can also remind you of what you still hope to achieve and encourage you to keep moving forward. It can allow you to record a lifetime of memories, experiences, and wisdom that may be lost if you do not share them. Seniors are repositories of memories and experiences and stories that their descendants need to share.

If you have an active mind, a notebook, and a pen or pencil, you’re on your way. Add a computer and printer, or even a typewriter if you prefer. If handwriting or typing is a problem, use a tape recorder and the help of a friend or relative.

I’ve often heard statements like this: “I’d like to write, but I wasn’t good in English. My teachers filled my papers with red marks and gave me low grades.” . . .When I was a college English professor, I probably discouraged many students with my red pen, but I offer no apologies—except for not explaining more emphatically that ideally, correctness should come last, not first, in the writing process. The problem for some beginning writers is not lack of ability, but lack of effort. Anyone who cares can make his or her writing clear and reasonably correct, and help is available.

But don’t worry about that now. Correctness can come as a final step. . . . Now that you are out of school, just write. Worrying over each word, punctuation mark, and sentence as you write it can produce serious writers’ blocks or bad writing. . . .

I have discovered that many people are better writers than they think they are. Write in your own voice, the way you speak. There’s no absolute right or wrong, no censor waiting to judge either your writing or your life. Write with confidence. Write for yourself. If you decide to share your work, either revise and edit it later or, if necessary, find an editor to help you. It’s the experiences and the ideas that matter most! Let your thoughts flow.