About

Hi! My name is Yoela, I’m in my early twenties, and still trying to make it through college. I love to crochet, read, and write stories in my spare time. Some Christian aspects will show up in my writing so do not be surprised. Most of my inspiration is God-given, I’m not sure how else to explain it. I have been writing since I was in my mid-teens, however, I have just recently become more dedicated to writing and publishing my work.

I began writing when I was thirteen years old. It was nothing fancy, just little things here and there. Then I began to try and write fiction like the many books I fell in love with. I wasn’t a bad writer, but I wasn’t very good either. I remember when I wrote my first poem, it was simple and cute. My cousin had shared with me some of her poetry and that’s when I discovered that not all poetry rhymed. She introduced me to free-form poetry and I decided to try it out the next day. In three days I had written two poems that I was very proud of and others praised me for. It was a great feeling and it gave me the confidence that I was creative and I could write when I was passionate about something. After that, I started trying to write fiction as well as poetry and it worked out quite nicely. There were hiccups and times where I felt like a total failure who couldn’t write one good book without abandoning the project out of frustration. I just hadn’t found my real passion yet and I was tired of trying to figure out how to portray characters’ lives on paper when I couldn’t even figure out my own. My mother told me I should start writing a diary and I couldn’t even do that. It was frustrating.

I started seriously writing when I was about eighteen. During this time, many things were going on in my life that I struggled with and I started using writing as a conduit for expressing my feelings in a clear, understandable way. Again, it started out as stories that expressed a certain part of me. Eventually, I started moving out of the fiction area and started trying other things, something more personal and relatable. In September 2020, I had reached a place where I felt forgotten and broken. I was tired of my life that I couldn’t control. I was tired of all the failures and the constant voices that wanted to remind me of them all the time. I was tired of not knowing who I was. I was tired of being… me. I was confused, hurt, and lonely. I started writing again, some poetry, some fiction. I didn’t write to achieve anything, I just wrote to get things out of my head. I received wonderful feedback on my writing, especially my poetry. I discovered that writing short pieces of literature was what I excelled at and I accepted it. I still tried to write full-length novels, but I didn’t beat myself up when one draft sat in a corner for weeks without attention. But, it was the small stories that I really enjoyed writing. There was something about writing a short poem around something I had struggled with that excited me. I felt called to write about my personal struggles and share them with others. I felt called to speak to the youth in my church and encourage them through my trials. I grew closer in my walk with God which, at the time, I felt was close to terrible. I felt Him speaking to me and encouraging me through His Word and my writing.

One day, the idea of writing devotionals leaped into my mind. I immediately grew excited about the idea and reached out to some friends about what they thought. I received much enthusiasm and encouragement. Many said that I was a great writer and that meant a lot to a girl with low self-esteem like me. I started jotting down ideas and writing my devotionals. Some just came up spontaneously, others are things I struggled with for a long time and didn’t know how to talk about. My writing became my diary. My devotionals became a personal encouragement to not only myself, but those around me. I found peace and wisdom in the arms of my Father as I started to look at His Word and encourage others. I began to find myself and believe that I was something more than just a sheltered young woman. I learned how to love me.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy writing in it.