Our theme for the month of June is “older and wiser.” Writers were asked to write a response to one of their previous pieces. Today, Courtney responds to her August 2021 post, “Writing Is.”

This is Courtney’s last post. She has been writing with us since August 2018.

Writing for tpc is sitting in silence with a Word doc, a half-drunk cup of tea, and one day till the deadline.

Writing for tpc is maintaining and developing a muscle through regular exercise.

Writing for tpc is typing gibberish into the Notes app at midnight and lunchtime and while waiting for your table.

Writing for tpc is stitching scraps of ideas into sentences and structures.

Writing for tpc is daydreaming about themes and alliteration instead of counting and re-counting the hours remaining in your retail shift.

Writing for tpc is watching your conversations for topics that could turn into ideas.

Writing for tpc is seeing your ideas turn into pieces that start new conversations.

Writing for tpc is catching up on others’ posts, marveling at the variety around you, then using the momentum to start your own post.

Writing for tpc is refining a skill beyond and apart from the pressures of academia.

Writing for tpc is contributing to a collage of voices.

Writing for tpc is knowing your words are stronger for being a part of a larger whole.

Writing for tpc is becoming one of those cool alumni on the blog you used to scroll on the Herman Library computers instead of doing homework.

Writing for tpc is discovering subgenres of your own style and voice, then growing and experimenting within those subgenres.

Writing for tpc is building a skill far greater than meeting a deadline every month.

Writing for tpc is receiving a theme month assignment and feeling lost, lost, lost until you complete your revisions.

Writing for tpc is receiving a theme month assignment and knowing—with light-bulb immediacy—what you’ll be typing about in a few weeks.

Writing for tpc is creating silly little traditions with yourself, like food writing in November, Christmas references in December, and musical theater discussions whenever the obsession strikes.

Writing for tpc is scarfing down dinner so you can head to a coffee shop and work until closing time.

Writing for tpc is claiming the living room couch, the office recliner, or your bedroom chair for a few hours and a few hundred words.

Writing for tpc is recruiting your friends and family for inspiration and research and brainstorming and feedback.

Writing for tpc is asking your friends to join you on Write Night for companionship and productivity guilting.

Writing for tpc is setting yourself bizarre research tasks and structure challenges, just because you want to be ambitious that month.

Writing for tpc is forcing yourself to aim for completion before perfection.

Writing for tpc is asking your friends to meet on Thursday so you can spend Wednesday with yourself and your laptop.

Writing for tpc is fighting the exhaustion enough to produce something rather than nothing, month after month and year after year.

Writing for tpc is copy-pasting punctuation into GoogleDocs until they FINALLY offer an auto em dash option.

Writing for tpc is coaxing your elderly high-school-graduation-gift laptop into allowing you to type one more essay using its screen.

Writing for tpc is scrolling through hundreds of bad stock images just to find something to pair with your precious words.

Writing for tpc is pondering whether that specific experience is worth sharing in public.

Writing for tpc is cringing at your previous posts, each typo and logical fallacy making you flinch in retrospect.

Writing for tpc is cherishing the hard work of a past self—someone in the process of becoming the you of today.

Writing for tpc is remembering the joy of writing with your own voice.

Writing for tpc is distilling the pain of today into something wonderful for the future.

Writing for tpc is shaping today’s joys into something hopeful for the pains of the future.

Writing for tpc is creating a record of your emotions as they grow alongside your realities.

Writing for tpc is remembering the thrill of your old classmates’ talents—and finding new ones to celebrate.

Writing for tpc is flitting between goofy absurdities, personal ponderings, and cultural commentaries—and not restricting yourself to only one.

Writing for tpc is a life raft of creativity in a time of change.

Writing for tpc is capturing who you were and are, post by post, in your twenties.

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