Being a writer is not for the weak or lazy, it’s not for the non committed. If you think being a writer is easy you are dead wrong.
I used to think I could write a book in just a few months, ha who was I kidding? Yea if I wanted to make a mockery of the art of words, poor quality and meger script sure, why not. But great quality work takes time, effort ,research, reading, sleepless nights and dedication to finish what one started and stick to the vision.
Being a writer is hard, you can have a vision, an idea of some of the characters you want in your story but putting it down on paper can sometimes be a difficult task. Especially if you have not experienced what they are faced with in the plot, you tend to struggle with molding them into relatable people. You have to create someone of interest out of thin air with care not to imitate someone else character that you’ve either seen or heard before.
Being a writer is being a creative, it’s more than just making a story but it’s making a story that’s worth reading over and over, worth remembering and sharing. For every writer’s dream is to be remembered by the words we left behind.
Being a writer is a calling we can’t ignore, for it haunts us, calls us out, ideas come at us as bolts of lighting and thunder challenging us to rise. We feel a certain level of dread when we ignore our gift. We feel a sort of envy when others do what we know we can but refuse to.
Being a great writer takes time, we can be born with the gift but it takes patience to refine our skills. It takes passion and drive, a love for learning new words, meanings, increasing ones vocabulary through reading. It takes a love of knowledge, a curiosity to know and a keen for detail.
I soon realized this when I first started writing my first short story, which turned out not being so short after all. I kept going and going until it lost it’s path and I lost sight of the vision that I held clearly at the first few sentences.
I had no draft, no plan no real experience just my beloved gift and love for writing, which I honestly thought was all it took. I soon learnt about 3 chapters in, that I had no in-depth character’s, there was no consistency throughout and it felt a bit scattered. When I realized this, I tried rushing the ending which made the climax horrific and insufficient. I had the passion and the idea was there but I lacked the skill of holding the readers interest throughout each plot and it sucked.
This resulted in me putting the book on hold while I better plan it out and develop the story better.
Being a writer in an ever learning experience and I’m forever a student.
Written by
Laurna Guiste
laurnaguistepublicist 