Let Your Writing Sing

I fell in love with writing back when I was in grade school. I loved all the writing activities—poems, stories, even essay questions in exams.

The essays probably sparked that interest. I hated it at first. It was difficult for me to put my thoughts into words, to explain complex concepts, and to do it clearly. Then, I learned.

I learn to think, to come up with clear sentences, to tell a story, to explain a theory. It was an amazing feeling. And my teachers were always supportive and encouraging. I loved it when my essays get picked and read aloud in class. I was so proud.

Then we started having poetry writing activities. I enjoyed writing English sonnets the most.

Unlike Haiku, a sonnet lets me tell a story in more detail and express deeper emotions. And the hunt for rhyming words that fit perfectly with the story is fun. It's challenging. I just couldn't sit still until I get the right word. And when I finally do, it's so satisfying. It's perfect. It's right. The line makes sense and adds to the overall story.

And that has always been my relationship with writing. I love the process of looking for the right words and the feeling when I find them. One word change can bring clarity to a sentence, a good structure can give it life, and the varying sentence lengths can add melody to a paragraph. It's beautiful.

While writing does have rules, it's okay to break some. Rules keep sentences rigid and monotonous. We're not robots. We need to hear the music. The life.

And the piece only comes alive when we let the words and sentences sing.