Why I Write Wednesday: IUWC Intern Meghan Corwin

I am about to graduate from IU with a degree in English, but I started college as an undecided student. My lack of decisiveness still baffles me. Writing has always been such an integral part of who I am and how I think that I no longer think I could be separated from it. I’ve always been a writer at heart, and whether or not people wanted to hear my stories, I had to tell them.

I’ve been writing since I could hold a pencil and structure a sentence. I’m not entirely sure why I started; every kid wants to be a storyteller, I suppose, but I didn’t realize until later in life that other people didn’t feel the same need to write that I did. When the urge struck, I had to get my thoughts down on paper, even if that led to my fourth grade math teacher yelling at me for writing a short story instead of paying attention in class. I think even then I knew that material wasn’t going to be a priority of mine. I was born to write, and it’s what I’ll be doing for the rest of my life.

The more I learn about writing, the more I’m inspired to write, so I’m grateful for my English classes and the IUWC. They’ve helped me realize how much I love not only storytelling, but the act of writing itself. There’s a beauty in structure and revision that makes me want to create and improve. I write because I have to, and I know every word makes me better at what I love to do.