A Confession

Sometimes we have problems in life, things that affect our sanity and wellbeing.

Sometimes we need to get things off our chest, to stop them from weighing us down.

I have a secret that I have been trying to keep hidden. It's become too hard to keep quiet any longer though, and I must confess this terrible secret, for the sake of myself and my family.

It is something that I have had a problem with since I was a child, although I didn't hide it back then. Those were the days I felt free to express myself, using this as a way of communicating how I felt. But, as I got older, I realised more and more that this was not an acceptable thing.

I had to force myself to grow out of it, but I couldn't do it completely.

When I started my blog, I wanted to write honestly about my life. And I've been upfront about wanting a new career as a writer. But this problem affects my writing. It poses a serious threat to how successful I could be in the occupation I want so much.

So, it's with a deep breath, a stack of nerves and a sense of relief that I confess:

I am addicted to exclamation marks!!!!!!

This is such a problem that, with everything I write, I have to go back over it and remove them! I want them after every sentence!

See?! It doesn't make for easy reading, does it?! As a writer, I take great joy from putting a big exclamation mark at the end of everything I write! But as a reader, it's really very annoying!!

When I was a child, I just put them in and thought they were great! But, as I got older, I realised it was kind of odd!! I mean, do I need to exclaim everything?!

In the flesh, I am not that excitable! I don't exclaim things and I don't jump around with excitement! I'm not what you would call a bubbly person; I'm more quiet and serious! Except after a few champagnes, that is!!!!!!

So why do I feel the need to do it in my writing?!

I read recently that a writer should be able to express a sense of excitement with their words, rather than with exclamation points! I don't agree completely; I think there are some moments where they are put to perfect use! But perhaps not quite this much!!

I don't know why I do it, but it feels so good to have confessed my big writing sin!!

Thanks!


Megan!