Blog 15

Craft Essay

I started writing in 2009 while on the Appalachian Trail (AT), but really, I think I started writing years before. When I was an art student in my early 20’s, I would include some writing in my work, but never thought much of it. Now I realize that it was a further exploration of my creativity, mixing art with words. 

When I hiked the AT, I wrote nearly every single day; I wanted to document moments that photos couldn’t capture, and wanted to be able to remember my time out there. I kept an online journal so that my friends and family at home could read what I was experiencing each day. Other than sharing entertaining stories, I didn’t think much of my writing. It did, however, become a ritual; writing was how I unwound at the end of each day in my little green tent. 

Friends and family told me that I was a good writer; I told them my writing was a bunch of crap. I did find enjoyment in writing, though.

In the summer of 2012, I rode my bike across the US, and again, wrote every single day. I think that experience solidified my love for writing, especially to document my daily adventures. I could also tell that my writing had improved between adventures; I think it was due to the amount of reading I was doing. 

When I transferred into Kean’s writing program, I discovered that I had some stories in me worth writing. Some of the hardest things I’ve written about have been my best pieces, and writing about different adventures has been helpful in making sense of the random fragments of time. In CNF, we listed things we wouldn’t write about, and I realized those were the things I most wanted to write about. With some coaxing, I dug deep and checked an item off of the list: coming out to my mom (the story never got posted to my blog). That was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but writing about it was nearly as hard. Reliving those moments on paper was so scary; it felt like I was going through the process all over again. To date, it has been my proudest piece of writing. 

Reading Tiny Beautiful Things and Wild by Cheryl Strayed has given me the confidence to pour my heart out onto the page and write honestly; she writes in explicit detail about the deepest, most intimate moments of her life, and her style is one that I feel most connected to. Strayed has a set of brass ladyballs that I admire, she makes me want to do the same.  


I’ve taken a variety of writing classes, and found my niche in CNF; It’s a place where I want my writing to live for a while. Writing in this genre has had a profound affect on me, and it’s made me assign a deeper meaning to the experiences I’ve had. Some day I’d like to compile all of my stories into a book, whether it’s for an audience or just for myself.