Welcome!

Hello all, 

Welcome to 'Arm Yourself!' a souped up, public reading/writing journal for my Writing Stories class. The purpose of this blog is to share what I'm reading, what I've learned about writing from these readings, and how I intend to apply that to my own writing. Mixed in I may share tid-bits of things I find inspiring, stories I'm working on, or other writing related ideas.

To start with, however, I would like to explain the title. Lately my roommate has been pestering me being a great roommate by trying to keep me sane and inviting me to watch Doctor Who with her. Generally I have to deny her request because of homework, but last night I made an exception; it was the weekend. With Doctor Who on my mind, I set out to find a good literary quote (thinking of the epic two-part episodes, "Silence in the Library" & "Forest of the Dead," which you should go watch right now). Instead, from the episode "Tooth & Claw," I found:

"You want weapons? We're in a library! Books! The best weapons in the world! This room's the greatest arsenal we could have - arm yourselves!"     -Doctor Who

I hope to someday be the arms dealer (aka a librarian) and the weapons manufacturer (aka a writer) in this scenario, but relating to the stage of life that I am in, books have been the greatest teaching arsenal. I do not expect any of my stories to be overnight best sellers but I do know that what I'm doing now, reading and writing, are the building blocks for improving my ability to write well so that maybe some day someone will gladly arm themselves with one of my literary weapons. 

Consider this my invitation for you to join me on this leg of the journey. 

-Jessica