One of my friends describes writing as “thinking at the end of a pencil.” He is a gifted and productive author. It is interesting to me that he still actually uses a pencil and an eight and one half by fourteen legal pad for his writing. I use an ink pen for my writing and an eight and one half by eleven pad for my writing. He has more to say than I do and no doubt needs the extra length. Writing as thinking at the point of an ink pen or thinking at the end of a computer screen doesn’t have the same folksy quality as the end of a pencil. Whatever enables us to get our thoughts down on paper is good. Writing can help clarify your thoughts and even help through a troubling situation. The school work standard “What I did on my summer vacation” may seem trite and a little boring, but writing about what we feel and experience can be a liberating experience. Often even our fears are reduced when we put them down in black and white on the page. Write a letter, compose a poem, record a memory, preserve your grandchild’s clever remark, archive your life story for those you love. Don’t worry too much about spelling and punctuation just get it down. You will benefit and so will your readers.