There’s this misconception amongst some people that they’re not good writers; that they can’t write at all. They feel that in order to be a skilled scribe, their vocabulary must rival that of a person with an I.Q. of 130 or above.
These people feel that they can’t string together the correct words and phrases to convey their thoughts, ideas, instructions, stories or feelings. These individuals see writers as a special breed of people that sequester themselves to a room and sit in front of a typewriter or computer for days on end frenziedly pounding on the keys of their devices creating their masterpiece.
I, for one, felt that way; I perceived writers as these “gifted beings” that could poignantly craft a sentence, paragraph or story into a work of art. Their use of words and grammar were flawless; it’s as if everything they inscribed on paper immediately became canon.
Every time I had to write a paper for school, I’d have anxiety because I was cognizant of the fact that I was NOT one of these “gifted beings” that could put my words into writing and effectively communicate my thoughts.
These shortcomings, and the fact that I dreamed of being a writer, drove me to improve myself in both words and sentence structures. I was obligated to become a master of my craft and not do a disservice to writers all over the world.
I enrolled in many writing classes, read many books, wrote many things ranging from short stories, children stories, poems, screenplays, business writing and reports. I voraciously wrote every day and even composed sentences in my head to sharpen my skills.
In all those years of writing I found one thing to be true…all of our writing, words, feelings, stories and ideas come from within.
Storytellers of old used to pass down their history, urban legends or culture orally from one generation to the next. One day someone had the solution to record them on paper; that paper soon was passed on and improved on by later generations.
Now if they could communicate effectively to another, they could surely write it down. The whole point of writing is basically recording down on paper what’s inside of us. If we could tell another person our idea then we could surely write it exactly as how we expressed it.
One’s writing doesn’t have to be eloquent with long words and grammatically correct, it just needs to get our point across to the reader. When we tell our story or idea, whether it be in a sentence, paragraph, page, or novel, as long as we’re able to get across what we need to say then we’ve accomplished what writing is all about.
If you have to compose a letter, report or story or dream of becoming a writer just always remember that it doesn’t take much. Just remind yourself of the fact that “if you can say it, then you can write it.” Speak out loud and then just write down what you’ve said on paper…that’s it. You’ve just take the first steps to writing.
Forget all that hogwash about long words and correct grammar; you’ll become efficient in that over time. You just need to WRITE! The whole point of writing is expressing yourself through your OWN choice of words; you’ll eventually develop a composition style that’s uniquely you.
We all talk, we do it every day. It’s something that is inherently in us. So go forth and write to your heart’s content. AND remember…you don’t need a high I.Q. or a vast vocabulary to write; as long as you can speak your thoughts then you can surely write it.
