One night, I was thinking about school. My mind wandered from topic to topic, thinking of the new school year is intimidating to some. I then thought about English Literature class, my favorite of all my classes. I remembered how many people I know who don't read unless it's manditory for school, even then, it's hard to say if they really did read it all, or just the important stuff, to get a passing grade. I wish more people would read, maybe not read so much you can't tell reality from your books, just enough to be able to escape your everyday life. Then there is writing.

So many teenagers can't write worth a darn, they do the bare minimum to pass the writing tests at the end of the year, so many still don't pass those.

Everyone can write. Not everyone can write something like Harry Potter or The Chronicles of Narnia, but everyone can write. It's a way to be free. You can express anything, there are no restrictions, it's absolute freedom. If I said this to some, they'd be cussing everyone out, instead of writing how they feel.

Writing in a journal, keeping a diary, or just writing a letter to yourself and throwing it away. You can be free when you write, you can feel however you want, no boundaries, no one to tell you what to do or how to feel. In writing there is no rule on how to feel, of course, there are grammar rules, but in the end, as long as you can express your feelings, give it a go. You may not like your writing, but it doesn't matter, keep trying and trying, you can express yourself through writing, and no one in their right mind can tell you that you shouldn't write like that.

Writing isn't math, reading isn't science. If you perceive a sad poem in a different way than someone else, it's an opinion, and no one can tell you your wrong. Writing is about feeling, reading is about escaping the troubles of life for five minutes or more a day.

My point is, not everyone can be a novelist, but everyone can be a writer, not everyone can write an amazing story, but everyone can read one.

In conclusion, taking ten minutes a day to read a chapter in a book or write an entry in a journal can change your life. You will feel less stressed, and more open, and no one can take your imagination away, because in the end, all you have is yourself and you can help yourself by expanding your mind with a book, or relieving stress in an entry of a journal.