The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart. – Maya Angelou
I would not call myself a born writer. When I had the chance to look back at old diaries, I even laughed at my grammar. Writing is something I learned and practiced through the years. I always kept journals since I was young. I remember writing long essays at school, making my own book reports (I really read the books!) and producing really lengthy written projects. I actually feel guilty when I am not able to write about what I see, what I learned, my observations about people and places, where I have been. And when I eventually get the chance (these days, the time) to write about them, I think about the message that I sent out there. Does it really matter? Was it really of importance to be written?
Most of the time, I write about personal stuff. I have a lot of thoughts about culture, society, diversity, philosophy and what-have-you but I have not even published them in this blog. There are a lot of drafts still kept behind the curtains of this online journal. Maybe too much to handle. But it is handy to keep them in the drafts folder because then I have an idea about the things I have always wanted to write about.
But I do not think I am a bad writer at all. When I attended journalism school, I always thought that there were more better writers than me. Often, they were in my circle of friends. They are more eloquent, when they play with words, they could actually make you feel that they have a certain intimacy with it. Born intimacy. Not to sound insufficient, I deem my style as that of clear and personal. Because I always think about how to send the message (if there’s a message to send) across. Or reading it back myself and understanding it the way it was made to be understood.
Maybe it came with the reportorial background. I am not really much into using high-falluting words that make other people think they are stupid. Many writers do just that. They use a lot of words one does not normally meet that it makes the audience feel deficient. In this case, a really big dictionary is needed to understand the text.
Above all the qualities that a writer must possess, I believe that clarity should be on top of the list. Along with the mastery of the language he or she is writing with. Especially if you are writing for an audience. Writing is a form of expression, not ‘impression’.
Many times, I doubt if writing is really my calling. But when I wake up in the morning, it is the first thing that I want to fulfil. When I am on a trip, there are two things I will not forget to bring, a camera and a notebook (these days, my AsusEEE). When I experienced something extraordinary (good or bad), when there is something I learned for the first time, or an idea that I somehow want to ‘freeze’, I take mental note of writing it. I even keep a dream notebook. When I am able to write, my soul is happy. When I am not able to write, I get cranky. I start to feel like there is this trafficjam inside my head that needs to be unlocked, or a disaster waiting to happen. I cannot sleep soundly at night when I did not have the time in the day to write. If organization is my therapy, I perceive writing as an organization of my thoughts.
Writing is also a form of meditation to me. A form of solitude. If there is something I feel strongly about and the thought burdens me, I just describe it in written words and it makes me feel less burdened. Writing is joy. A thing of beauty. If there is only one thing left in the world to do and I am made to choose, I will choose to write. My dreams of the future consist of writing — more journals, more poetry, books that promote diversity and the unification of mankind, a really sufficient library. Does that make me a writer?#
