Rediscovery

Today I was going through my folder labeled "Super Top Secret Writing" (subtle, I know), reading some of my old stuff, going all the way back to freshmen year of high school. It's funny, how much my writing has improved, yet as a person, I've stayed the same and I say the same things, now I just know how to phrase more eloquently. In the folder I discovered a document "Thoughts on Being a Writer" proving that this isn't the first time that I've attempted to unravel the mysteries of poem and prose. My computer tells me the document was created on April 29th, 2010 at 5:50 in the afternoon, which chronologically, places it about 10 months before I started writing this blog. Anyway, for your viewing pleasure here are my first electronically recorded thoughts on being a writer.

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Writing isn’t a visible talent the same way others are. There’s no team, no stage, no gallery. I like to think that it’s a quieter talent that shines through at just the right moment. (Which is funny, because I am definitely not a quiet person). The real problem with being a writer is that for a good part of school, writing is seen as a “smart person” thing. No one really sees it as an art, or a craft, something that people might do in their spare time. And creative writing is hard work. There are just as many techniques and hours of practice involved as in any other field of the arts. For me, writing is about self-expression, creation, and passion. I can craft my own world, where I say what I want without fear of offending anyone. There ends up being a relationship between writer, pen, and paper. These mundane objects are transformed into the tools of the trade and the means by which someone can record their innermost feelings and ideas. I can create new words, and new ways to make language flow, painting a picture of what I want to say. (I can’t draw for my life: believe me, I’ve tried.) For me, images are in my head and the only way I can show them is through ink on paper. I try to draw with syllables and sounds and install my images in someone else’s mind. And if someone else can read my piece and say “hey, I like that” well then, that’s the best part of writing. Because why would you write if you can’t share it? 

I do love sharing my writing but it’s also one of the most terrifying things to do. As soon as I start to read my heartbeat quickens, and I can feel the adrenaline rush. I bet athletes, or actors feel the same way when they have a big game or performance. Because when I write I’m really putting myself on the paper and other people are going to judge me when they read my work. And it’s a weird feeling: reading you’re work a second time, trying to see it through another’s eyes, and marking it up with other’s critiques. But the risk is worth it when someone takes the piece and says: “I’m taking this with me. I keep poems I really like”