Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Why I Joined Reedsy’s #IWriteBecause Campaign—And You Should Too

I’ve been writing since I was a kid.

I spent hours reimagining stories for my American Girl dolls (spelled out in 80-page Word documents). I went through a poetry phase where I penned exclusively weather-themed prose (my mother has the scrapbooks to prove it). In college I wrote for a sports blog about baseball (I knew—and still know—nothing about the sport) and a handful of current events articles for the student newspaper. In the years since, I’ve written about everything from weddings to professional tree climbers to (yes) writing.

But, if you’re like me, what’s more intriguing than hearing someone’s literary resume is discovering why they write. One of my favorite things about working at Writer’s Digest is getting to hear other authors’ why, and also, their how: How did words they’ve read encourage them to finish a novel, to persevere past rejection, or to see the world a little differently? How did that spur them to do the same in kind with their own writing? Everyone has their own reasons for writing, and those are as varied and unique as we are individually. For me, and the rest of us at WD, writing is a way to give back. It’s a way to share knowledge, to share truth, to share stories; to learn, to inspire, to encourage each other.


wd0817_160WRITE BETTER NOW BY DOWNLOADING WRITER’S DIGEST!

Know why you write, but want to improve on how you write? Check out the latest issue of Writer’s Digest, North America’s leading publication for writers, here.


Which is why, when I heard about Reedsy’s #IWriteBecause campaign, a video project giving writers a platform to explain why they do what they do—and give back during the process—I had to share it with you all. For every author video submitted, Reedsy will donate $10 to Room to Read, a nonprofit foundation that focuses on literary acquisition and girls’ education in Africa and Asia that has benefited more than 10 million children in a dozen countries. All of us who write (and read) know the inestimable value of being able to do so—and I believe that any way that we can share that with others is something to strive toward.

My video about why I write is below, but I want to know: Why do you write? For more information about the campaign, visit Reedsy here: https://blog.reedsy.com/announcing-iwritebecause. To join, go to blog.reedsy.com/iwritebecause, while info about Room to Read can be found here: https://www.roomtoread.org/.


Baihley Grandison Featured 2017Baihley Grandison is the associate editor of Writer’s Digest and a freelance writer. Follow her on Twitter @baihleyg, where she mostly tweets about writing (Team Oxford Comma!), food (HUMMUS FOR PRESIDENT, PEOPLE), and Random Conversations With Her Mother

The post Why I Joined Reedsy’s #IWriteBecause Campaign—And You Should Too appeared first on WritersDigest.com.


from Writing Editor Blogs – WritersDigest.com
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/joined-reedsys-iwritebecause-campaign

No comments:

Post a Comment