The Random Bibliophile

by Renee Alexis

Renee Alexis
20-something Filipina, an introvert who loves young adult fiction, brush pens, Taylor Swift, and BTS. Coffee runs in my bloodstream.

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2023 Reading Challenge

2023 Reading Challenge
Renee Alexis has read 0 books toward her goal of 30 books.
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Writing On Paper and Online

Writing On Paper and Online | Know Me Better
In my 24 years of existence, I've had so many interests that I've had tons of hobbies as I grew up. Of course, I've loved reading books since I was a kid, but aside from that, I also like playing games, watch movies and tv series, take photographs, hang out with friends. I also like to go shopping, I like to color and paint, I love to sing and listen to music, I like to journal and blog and write down my thoughts.

The list will seem endless if I go on, hehe. I just have so many hobbies but in this post, I'd like to share and talk about my love for writing - both on paper and online.

I have been writing since I was in grade school. I remember keeping a diary of my thoughts because I found it easier to express myself by writing it on paper than speaking it out loud. My school books were also full of my writings. I always doodle out a few words that I just think of all of the sudden. Most of the time, my mind is a jungle of words, and to release them, I would write them all down to feel relieved. It was, in a way, a means of release for me. I felt right at home in my room with just a pen and a notebook in my hand.

Writing is my means of release.

In school, writing exercises for my academic subjects were a breeze for me and I really loved it when my teachers would critic and praise my work. I don't know if this is still practiced in today's elementary teaching, but in my time way back early 2000, we were always asked to write about our summer vacation, our Christmas vacation, our likes and dislikes, our autobiography and the biography of the people we love. I liked those exercises because if it weren't for those, I wouldn't have the building blocks of my writing career today. I didn't have the perfect grammar then (and it still isn't perfect now) but as I am getting more and more experience as the years progresses, I can really say that my writing has improved by a mile.

Then high school came and I started composing short poems to release a lot of my hidden emotions. It was in high school when I first encountered love and heartbreak and I took those feelings and converted them into words on paper. Call it teenage angst if you will but those feelings have given me tons of words I could just pour out all day, every day. I also used to write stories that come to me in dreams. I even dreamt of being a renowned writer, haha! I watched 13 Going on 30 and I dreamt of working in a magazine company just like the lead. Today, one of my secret dreams is to publish my own book. I know it's possible, I just need to have the drive and perseverance to really do it and put my dreams into action.

I am getting more and more experience as the years progresses

It was in 2009 that I discovered the wonders of blogging. I was reading a Candy Magazine I just bought from the mall and I read an ad about Tumblr. I instantly got curious and so I registered. That was how I started blogging.

At first, I just made my Tumblr account an online diary. I would write what I did, what my thoughts were, and how I felt in my little space. I wrote about my feelings and how I was adjusting to the life I was living, having moved to another city and starting college in a big university without knowing anyone. It escalated into something more when I began discovering other blogs with specific niches. Being someone who has so many interests, I couldn't pick just one niche to blog about and so I decided to make my blog a personal one where I can write just about anything my heart desires.

I wrote about the books I've read, about the feelings I felt then, about my life adventures and my journey in my college life. I was on Tumblr for a couple of years until I moved to Blogger in 2016 and got more serious in blogging.

To date, I have already published a total of 130 write-ups. I have also gotten numerous opportunities from different brands for collaborations and clients who want to have me write for them because they liked my writing style on my blog. It was a dream come true because I've only ever wished for those things to happen to me. I really loved that this hobby turned into something I can earn from.

Writing is my means of release, and I cannot emphasize that enough. I write not only to share my opinions, thoughts, and beliefs. I write because I want to. I write because I love the process and the challenge of creating something from scratch. I write because it is therapeutic for me. It calms me down and takes me back to a time when life was simple and hassle-free.

Writing has always been a part of my life, may it be on a piece of paper or on a blank page in front of a screen. I love words. I love stringing them all together to create coherent thoughts that somehow make sense. I write to save and relive memories. And today, I write to survive, haha.

If you didn't know it yet, I have turned my hobby into a means of something that I can earn from. I have been writing for a living by working as a freelance writer to clients who would contact me. Aside from managing my own blog, I have also been writing for other clients' blogs.

In my experience, writing is not a pot of gold all the time. I have also experienced a lot of downs with it. There are moments when I am at a loss for words, they call it a writer's block, wherein you wouldn't have the energy to write something good enough. And I've experienced this lots of times already. It becomes frustrating but I have always come out of the slump eventually. I would just do something else during my burnout and when I go back to writing, I'd be surprised that I have a lot to say again. I'm so blessed to say that my hobby turned into something I can be proud of and that I can earn from it on the side, too. If I didn't love writing, I wouldn't be where I am today.

I've been saying that I really love writing but I'm not really an expert in this field, not yet. I am self-taught. My grammar isn't perfect, and I make mistakes all the time. Reading books have really helped with my writing and grammar, though. And I'm so happy that I love reading as much as I love writing because these two come hand in hand.

As I have mentioned, I like keeping a diary or journal of some sort over the years. Just last 2016, I started a thing called bullet journal and I'm proud to say that until today, I have been keeping up with it. I have already emptied out my last journal and bought a new notebook for this year's bullet journal and even that is really close to the last page. I have been obsessed with it since then.




I've spent money to buy markers, pens, brush pens, and other stuff to beautify my journal. Some will say that it's excessive but I see spending a little dime for my hobby as an investment to better myself in this craft. And so far, I am improving my calligraphy. This is taking my love for writing to a whole new level. I can now write my thoughts in beautiful lettering and, who knows, maybe someday I can sell what I have created, right? 😊





Writing has already been a daily habit for me. I cannot go on a day without writing a little something in my bullet journal. And also here on my blog. Even though I don't post on the daily or even regularly as I did before, I always open up my blogger dashboard and add little things up to my growing list of drafts. 😅 I still love my blog and blogging just as much. Whenever I feel uninspired, I look back to my past blogs and read them. I always am surprised at how I can express myself and then I'd feel a little better and think that this writing slump will eventually come to pass.

Writing is more than just a hobby for me now. It is a part of my life and I don't know who I will be if I don't like to write.

I would now end this post here because I realized I've been blabbering too much already, haha. I had so much fun writing this post and I hope that you had fun reading it as well.

If you've reached this point, thank you so much for taking the time to read and for dropping by my blog. 😊 Until next chat time! 😘

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