Journal #2 - Dani Miller

Hello, my name is Dani Miller. I am a returning student to OSUM and I am finishing up my Creative Writing degree. I am a graphic designer at my company and I will admit that it's a little hard for me at times because I am a self taught designer. I guess I do decently enough because no one has complained yet, so that's always good. When I'm not in classes or at work, I play a ton of video games and Magic the Gathering. My husband and I will go to the local hobby shop in Delaware each week to see friends and to play. My other hobbies include reading, some writing, managing my own direct sales business, and playing with my cat, Sweetness. Unfortunately her name does not reflect her nature, at least according to Patrick, my husband.

Here's a picture of Patrick and I on our wedding day:

We went out to Vegas to get married by Elvis. It was a lot of fun and we had amazing weather the entire time we were out there.

What struck me the most from our reading was the belief that people learn to write from writing. I think that's a very valuable thing to learn and to know because like any art or sport, the more you practice, the better you'll get at it. I used to look back on previous writings and almost cringe at how they sounded, but then I would read something I had just done and see the progress I had made as a writer. The only way I got to where I was was because of my consistently writing and getting feedback on what I had written from my peers or teachers. Writing does seem like a tedious and arduous task at first, but it does get easier as you go along. So as the author said, if you can set aside time everyday and create a schedule to write, it will help you tremendously as an aspiring writer. Even if you develop writer's block along the way, just keep writing. You'll only get over it if you push through it and work your way over those hurdles.