Compliments of Thangaraj Kumaravel via Flickr

When was the last time you deliberated with pen and paper? Unloading your thoughts can be a cathartic process for everyone involved – promoting inner healing, and in more public cases restorative justice.

But creative writing is so much more than penning thoughts to paper. It’s an exploration into the depths of your experiences, a sense-making that may congeal years after seemingly random occurrences. Inventive personal imagining converges a different, sometimes life altering perspective – your own.

Even better is when you can obtain a cold, objective third eye to provide input on your inspired meanderings. Options comprise adult education courses, non-degree programs (like MTSU Write – which pairs learners with someone established in their genre), Masters of Fine Arts degrees that can be completed in consecutive summers (e.g., Sewanee) and those that are low residence (like Spalding, requiring only ten days on campus per year). Other avenues that provide mentoring by renowned authors include writers’ conferences.

You’ve heard that people leave the planet with their music unplayed. Writing is thus a way to unleash your melody (not just for your own enjoyment), but for other individuals as well. What hidden stories have you not exhumed? Your epic tale may be the very thing others have been waiting to hear, have been hoping you’ll tell. Sometimes simply a little focusing, streamlining, and constructive commentary are all it takes to get you started.