Five Reasons You Should Be A Writer
The record of your existence deserves better than the memes you post on Facebook.
As soon as small children learn to put words to paper they get excited about writing. They submit their stories “The most exciting day in my life” bubbling with pride. Somewhere after that, however, the thrill of writing disappears. I’m guessing it’s because baring your 7-year-old soul only to have it mercilessly criticized for grammar and spelling is but the first unkind cut of a thousand more to come. Ultimately, the goal of writing in public schools is to prepare students to compose exams and college entrance essays. Where’s the thrill in THAT?
If the fun of writing has been sucked dry from your life, I want to restore it. There is no one else in the world like you. Write the best-selling story of your life!
5 reasons you should start writing:
1. Your relatives will not throw out your writing when you die. Sadly, your tenderly curated collection of beer cozies will have no place in your child’s Marie Konda-ed townhouse. Only pieces with deeply personal connections will survive after your death. When my parents passed away I was delighted to find and keep the diary my dad wrote during the first years after WWII and a journal with my mother’s recipes and her daily observations of life as a housewife in the 1950s. They are precious, both for the glimpses of the younger parents I never knew and for the surprisingly personal revelations they shared about their love for each other and for their children.
2. Set the record straight. My children are disappointed that in spite of being a teen in the 1960’s, I did not go to Woodstock. They insist that I was a nerd. HEY! I had fun! I was a real “honky-tonk woman” in the 70’s in Pittsburgh, PA! I drank “boilermakers” (shots of whiskey in Iron City beer) in every dive bar in town. I smoked a bushel of weed for less money than my kids pay for a Starbucks venti latte. I saw Bruce Springsteen in concert for FREE before he was famous.C'mon now! I was cool!
3. Writing doesn’t take that much time out of your day. Here’s a deal. Instead of doom-scrolling cable news and texting snarky comments on Twitter, open your journal/computer/smartphone NOTES app and write about your day. Same amount of time, less social drama.
4. No one will correct your grammar or criticize your spelling. I promise. As the saying goes: just be yourself. Ultimately, that’s all anyone cares about anyway. And believe it or not, they do care.
5. Most importantly, you can tell them that you love them. Somewhere in the daily angst of living, we lose sight of what we mean to each other. Don’t wait until your dying breath: these days you might breathe your last alone, intubated, in the hallway of an ICU. Let them know you care.
Excuse me. Why are you still staring at this page? Get writing!