National Writing Day 2025

It’s National Writing Day – an annual celebration of the power that writing holds as well as the joy that can be found in writing recreationally and creatively. National Writing Day normally takes place in the third week of June every year and was first established in 2017 a charity organisation named First Story, whose fundamental objectives primarily centre around enhancing literacy skills and creative thinking among young people. Writing itself is a potent tool fostering effective communication, personal growth and development, active learning and the sharing of ideas among individuals, communities and across the globe as a whole.

Since its launch, National Writing Day has evolved into a nationwide annual celebration, with thousands of participants engaging with it on a yearly basis. It has helped many individuals to rekindle with or develop a love of and passion for writing. Writing takes many different forms as well. Some of these can include:

  • Short stories.
  • Novels
  • Non-fiction books and studies.
  • Poetry
  • Essays
  • Journals
  • Letters
  • Transcripts

 

There are, of course, many more! In terms of writing styles, the four main styles of writing are descriptive, persuasive, narrative and expository. Writing empowers individuals through communication and allows them to express themselves or their ideas in various ways, as well as share unique perspectives and have their voices heard. A love of writing and reading also coincides significantly, meaning that this annual celebration of writing ultimately fosters a love of storytelling and reading as well, which are fundamental aspects of education and lifelong learning. This is a huge part of why this yearly event is celebrated widely across educational institutions and schools as well as cultural organisations across the nation. It is promoted to individuals of all ages, backgrounds and literary skills, with each institution celebrating or promoting the event, often hosting a writing challenge or competition with a set unique theme.

 

How can you celebrate National Writing Day…

If you are a university student currently, it is very likely (in fact, we can pretty much guarantee) that you have been doing a lot of writing over this semester and year for assignments, essays and exams. Your hand probably hurts just thinking about writing. Nevertheless, the summertime for many presents an ideal opportunity to make creative writing a newfound hobby (or perhaps a former hobby to rekindle with!) Maybe there was a novel, short story or poem you were working on before exam and deadline season kicked into full swing, or perhaps you had been previously finishing up a personal piece or blog post? Either way, there are many more ways in which you can take part in National Writing Day, including:

  • Joining a creative writing group, club or event hosted at a local school, community centre or library.
  • Taking part in writing challenges advertised online and sharing your work on social media platforms.
  • Checking out events or free resources centred around National Writing Day to inspire creativity.

 

Want to learn more about creative writing and the art of storytelling? Here are some book recommendations from Edinburgh Napier libraries – all of which can be found and requested though our library catalogue LibrarySearch.

 

  • The Creative Writing Handbook: Techniques for New Writers, Singleton, John, 1938-; Luckhurst, Mary. 2nd ed.; 2000. Available at Merchiston Campus Library.
  • The Story Factor: Secrets of Influence from the Art of Storytelling. Simmons, Annette. Author. Revised edition.; 2006. Available at Sighthill Campus Library.

 

By Rachel Downie

 

Photo credit goes to Ylanite Koppens at Pexels.

 

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