Happy Monday!

I know this is my blog, so obviously I’m the main writer. You read whatever I write to you all: things about my life, mostly, and lessons I’ve learned.

But the more I’ve been thinking about writing, and what #JustStartWriting means to me, the more I’ve wanted to expand it in some ways. #JSW began as a personal challenge to myself to well, just start writing every day since that was what all the great writers say you should do. Practice makes perfect.

Now, I don’t just want to make this about me and my writing anymore.

I want people who also have the gift of writing – whether that be through storytelling, poetry, essay, or even songwriting – to be able to share their gift as well. I want #JSW to become more of a community; a place where writers can just come together, encourage one another, and discuss the latest struggles of writing life or who the hottest writer is lately or whatever.

I want it to be a support system; writing can be intimidating sometimes. And writers can sometimes be timid about putting their work out there. So I want #JSW to be a place where writers bounce ideas off of each other, or simply just read and listen to a piece that someone has finished or is working on.

I know this vision I have will take time – a good friend of mine told me that everything’s a process, and it’s true. But I want to start somewhere…

So, here it is. This week, I’ve opened  an opportunity for some of my writer friends to put some of their pieces out there, and be featured on my blog.

Even though I only have enough guest writers for a week, I would LOVE it if other people contributed as well! Seriously, I’m pretty sure my readers have gotten tired of hearing or reading my voice (although I will still be writing intros about each writer JUST SAYIN’). It’ll be super refreshing to read different perspectives through different genres. And you can writer ANYTHING: short story, poem, song, essay, nonfiction fiction, whatever!

And I don’t plan for this to be a one-time series. I want to keep bringing this back up because I think it’s important to invest and support others in what they love. And I’m sure it’ll be nice to not read my writing for a little while 🙂

To those reading this and considering it, PLEASE READ THIS:

If you are thinking about it, but hesitating because you’re not sure if your writing is “good enough”…I assure you, it probably is. This is a judgment-free zone. I believe there is something beautiful and unique in the way that each individual writes, and I want each writer to feel like they belong in the writing world, even if a good idea they wanted to execute didn’t really pan out, or if you wrote something super vulnerable, but aren’t sure if it’ll be accepted.

Your voice matters. Your story matters. You matter.

I don’t want to put any pressure on you, but I’m so serious about what I just typed up there. If you want to join, you are more than welcome. Contact me via email (at the top of my blog, there’s a Contact Me! tab. My email address is there 🙂 ).

Tomorrow, we get to hear from my good friend Jonathan Moore or JMoore as I like to call him. 😀

YAY NEW WRITING. I am excited, and you should be too!

#JSWTogether

❤ Mishy