Welcome to Day 25 on the journey through The Joy of Writing Journal.

Today we explore some of our quirky personality traits and how they help us as writers. The truth is, I just realized that, while I wrote my Day 25 list of quirky traits, I never answered the prompt about how these traits might contribute to my writing and my voice as a writer.

I ask myself aloud, if my first attempt is to type this into my blog as a post, can it even qualify as my journal? Then I remember, there are not many rules in journaling. We make them up as we go. So call it what you will, but I am calling this my journal excerpt for today:

I love to read fiction, but I’m not so sure I can write fiction! I’m not a keen observer of people. I often take things at face value and don’t dig deeper. I don’t really understand plot. I think I’d have to go back to school for that one.

My gifts include playfulness, rhythm, love of words, a deep connection with nature. I’m kinesthetic by nature. I experience my truth and knowledge in an energetic way. Sometimes that’s hard to translate into writing but sometimes it provides for adroit symbolism.

What’s come naturally to me is to write in self-help and how-to genres—I can dig into my life for short memoirish anecdotes and draw lessons from them. And exercises—prompts, questions, experiences, movement-oriented and creative exercises—all come to me with ease.

My writing coach, Tama Kieves, tells me that the things that come easily to us, we take for granted. We often place more value on what we lack.

So, today, I’m thinking about these gifts that I do have—gifts that come from my quirky kinesthetic way of being and connecting, from my communion and my natural internal communication with nature, from the rhythm and world play that come organically to me—and I am feeling grateful for them.

These gifts helped make The Joy of Writing Journal the uncommon book that it is. A book that I hope engages you in unique and effective ways that help turn on your creativity and free you in your journaling, your writing and your joy.

I hope you will take this opportunity to let go of looking at what you lack as a writer and seeing what makes you uniquely you as a journaler, writer and person.

Your Turn

Share an excerpt from your Day 25 romp through The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day. Looking for the exact journal list and prompt? You can get them here.

If this exercise is challenging for you, don’t feel badly. It was the last exercise I completed—more than a month after I finished the rest of the book.

Sometimes it isn’t easy to acknowledge our idiosyncrasies or our gifts. Give yourself permission to play. Or ask a friend for help with this one. Ask them to make the list and give you feedback to help you with the prompt. Then journal, explore and see what you learn about yourself.

In the comments, feel free to share a few of your quirky traits and how they support your journaling, your writing, your personal growth or other aspects of being a person, creative by nature.