Who is smarter a math teacher or an English teacher?
An English teacher. They know all the letters and the math
teacher is still trying to find out what “x” is.
Meanwhile writers are dreaming up how to get “x” out of the
jam he’s in and all the time wondering “y” they bother dallying with the alphabet
in the first place. It probably wouldn’t make the top answers on the survey,
but I think why a person writes is more important than who, what, when, where,
or how.
That’s not only true of writing, it’s true about most things
in life. As such, it would seem that somewhere along the way, a writer should
take time to think about why they are doing it. If you have been writing a
while, it has surely cost you something. It has me and the price has been
steep.
I don’t regret the time I’ve spent writing or the price. In
a sense, I am never more alive than when I’m fastened to a keyboard and dead to
the world. Writing is as much a part of me as the sound of my voice, the gray
in my thinning hair, or the conspiratorial look in my eye.
I write because I was made to do it—I don’t mean like being
compelled to write “What I did on My Summer Vacation” essays. Although if my
memory serves me well, I did get a bit creative on many of those. I’m talking
about being born that way. It took a lot of wandering, and a lot of education
that had absolutely nothing to do with a classroom, but I found a way to do
what I love.
I still don’t know what I’m doing, but I fake it much better
than I used to do. That’s the beauty of writing. You can blame everything on
creative license or being experimental. Talent is great, but persistence,
passion, and daring will do more for your stories. Well, that’s my story and
I’m sticking to it.
Maranatha
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