I am a Writer, Hear me Roar! by Jen Greene

As a writer, it is so easy to convince yourself that you are not good enough.  Self-esteem has been a struggle of mine for over 30 years.  Even typing this blog post I keep deleting things thinking that no one really wants to read this.  Perhaps you can relate. 

Something that has helped me work through this struggle is writing.  In particular, forcing myself to share my writing.  I started off sharing with my students. I love to write, have always kept journals, but never shared them with anyone before becoming a teacher.  I read Harriet the Spy as a kid, I knew what could happen if my thoughts fell into the wrong hands!  But then I found myself in a room full of little people needed me to teach them how to write.  Sure, I could use amazing mentor texts to showcase writing styles, but I needed to teach them that not all writing is beautiful, perfect, and published.  More often than not, it’s messy, chaotic, and never sees the light of day.  But it’s important and it deserves to be heard.  I had to share my own writing with them to really illustrate this.  It was the best thing I could do for them, and for myself.

My students inspired and guided my writing just as much I did theirs.  We were a community, celebrating and struggling together.  It was transformative...so much so that it led me to the next step: sharing my writing with other grown-ups!

Through opportunities to contribute to community blogs, and with a lot of encouragement from the #TeachWrite community, I took the plunge and started my own blog.  It is slow moving, and I feel like I’m going to vomit every time I hit publish, but it’s happening.  I have conquered the fear. Maybe no one wants to read what I write, maybe no one agrees with me….who cares?  I have thoughts, I have a voice, and I’m sharing it.  I am writer, hear me roar!

My advice to you is this: start small.  Share with your students.  Share with your colleagues.  Share with your dog.  And when you feel ready- share with the world. 

You are a writer, we want to hear you roar!



Jen Greene is an elementary school teacher in the West Chester Area School District in West Chester, PA.  She is a fellow with the PA Writing and Literature Project (PAWLP) and a doctoral student at Widener University.  Her tentative journey into blogging can be found by visiting https://GreeneLit.wordpress.com. You can find her on Twitter @GreeneMachine82.