A WRITER
What does it take to be a writer? A degree in journalism? A phd in some Ivy league university? A stunning five-page essay with deep, out of this world words that only a select few people can understand? Or is it a heart, a passion for writing that even with its very simple form it penetrates directly to the readers’ hearts?
I’ve noticed that a lot of people nowadays consider writing merely as a job. A job, that when you’re good at it, it brings home not just bacon, but the whole meat section. Writing has been made so commercial, so typical and practical that sometimes it losses essence and emotion. I can still clearly remember what my teacher in high school told me: “Writing makes imagination limitless and emotions come to life”. Though half of the class never really did pay attention, and sad to say I’m an avid member of that half, what she said just caught me. It made me realize how great it is to write. How wonderful it is to put all my thoughts, my imagination into paper and share it to the world. Hence, I started to write. However, I came across with these so-called writers claiming and telling people that to be a writer, passion is never enough. One has to have skills and technical knowledge in writing. Hearing this actually made me feel down. I know for a fact that I am not a master in all the technical aspects in writing. Heck my vocabulary skill is not that amazing either. Then I thought, I’m just a fake writer. A wannabe. I thought merely writing what I feel and what I want would count me as a writer. I guess I was wrong. But then again, no matter how defeated I felt, I just can’t help but wonder… what’s the point of being technically perfect in writing, when the soul, the emotion is not there? Then I felt as if a lightning of revelation struck me. Yes, a writer needs to be technically skilled if he wants money, recognition and gold statues in his living room. However, a writer needs only his heart to get something more than money and recognition…a smile that is engraved in the readers memory.
I am not a professional writer. I don’t work for New York Times and I don’t have a Phd. I don’t know what the heck APA is and half the time I don’t know which punctuation mark to use. I am not technically skilled in writing but I will not stop writing. I am a writer. I make imaginations limitless and emotions come to life.
To those of you who has been told that you are not a writer because you lack technical skills, don’t listen to them and most importantly don’t stop writing. The pen is your life and the story is your soul and no one, not even the greatest writer in the world can take that from you. You ARE a writer.
