OK, so I'm not fully done with this, but I am excited to share it with the readers and writers on fictionpress. This is my essay for an essay contest. I know it's short but they asked for a 300-500 word essay, so I had to cut a lot out.

please R&R! :)

Powerful Words

I would sit in class and wait for the 3:10 bell to ring. I reviewed the day, and penned up my heated emotions. It was another bad day at school where people treated me horribly. They ignored or teased me- it depended on who it was. When the bell finally rang, I would leave school to go home. I would get home and release all my anger by screaming inside my house. I figured that nobody would hear me.

This used to be a normal routine for me. However, I did control my anger once I got tired of the screaming. I either read a book or wrote poetry. I found a comfort within the written word.

Reading a book helps me get off the subject of “me”. I read and enter the world-and life- of somebody else. I experience the moods of the characters and the tone the author was writing with. This always helps me forget about my problems for the time being. Then again, sometimes I relate to situations the characters are going through and I learn how to deal with my own situations better.

Most of the time I write poetry, but I have made attempts to write short stories. Writing helps me release my anger or sadness. Often I just grab a pencil and paper and let the words flow from my head to my hand and end up writing poems. Other times, when I am in a more creative mood, I write short stories and put my characters through drastic situations, and usually I allow them to have the happy ending I wish I could have with my situations. Writing these stories helps me get over my problems quicker.

Reading and writing have been beneficial for me throughout my teenage life. I have loved reading since I was little. I discovered writing when I was in seventh or eighth grade when school days were becoming unbearable. Looking back on the times when I read or wrote the most, I realize that it helped me in so many ways. Therefore, I strongly believe that written words have the power to comfort anyone in need of it. I still read or write when I feel overwhelmed.