Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts

Friday, May 07, 2010

"Have you thought of getting into writing?"

It has been over 20 years since I have seen him or spoken to him and after just a few e-mails that was his question. I apparently have a "remarkable turn of phrase and a way with words" and he thinks I would be "kick ass at it". Interesting observation on his part considering our e-mail exchanges consisted of some harsh truth and complete honesty. I guess I do have a way of telling it like it is and not sugar coating but does that really translate into any type of meaningful writing?

When I was young I liked to write stories. They were usually of the horror or scary variety, though I doubt they would have scared a kindergärtner, and really weren't all that creative. I'm too analytical to be creative or I would have probably gone into some sort of graphic art or design. I think at some point I realized that and stopped trying to be the next Stephen King. What I did notice was that I could write one hell of an essay on just about any given topic. In college I even had a professor keep a copy of one of my essay's to read to future students as an example of A+ work. I was proud of that essay but no longer have a copy of my own so I don't really remember what I wrote.

So, what does this mean for my future as a writer? Absolutely nothing as I don't believe I have one but it has reminded me why I really started blogging. It was never about being a poker blogger or any kind of blogger really, that was just a perk. For me it was a place to express myself in any way I wanted, about any topic I felt like writing about but somewhere I lost my way. I started trying to hard and the writing suffered. It started to feel forced and I wasn't enjoying it at all. I'd start to think about writing something then get a knot in my stomach because I was afraid it wouldn't sound like me or it would be too boring or not interesting enough. I realized I was no longer blogging for myself and cared too much what others thought. Considering I have a large group of friends who seem to like me for who I am, that line of thinking isn't really all that logical.

With all that said, this blog is going back to what it used to be, a place where I write what I want, when I want and it either gets read or it doesn't. People will like it, or they won't. It makes no difference to me. And who knows, maybe once in a while I'll write something "kick-ass" that has a "remarkable turn of phrase". You never know, it's happened before.