reBORN

Fantasy: The Ultimate Escape! Devri W... Fairytale: Revisited

reBORN

I’m convinced some writers are born, not made.

Do you understand the difference? Take Justin Beiber or Katy Perry or any politician, for that matter, and examine their success and how it was achieved. Was it because they were any more talented than half a million other singers in their age group? No. Is any politician any different than the last? Maybe, but probably only slightly. They all have connections. They all have multiple homes, and they’re all loaded. Do they really care about the average American? I doubt it. But what do these three examples prove? Simply, that some people are made into who they are. Others, on the contrary, are born to have certain passions and proclivities.

I truly believe some people are born creative. Some are born/meant to be writers and some are made into writers. Also, I believe some people are writers who probably shouldn’t be. Insert any extremely sucky title here. Or, just for fun, google the piece of horrendousness to the right. I was speaking at a school recently, and one of the high school kids asked me how I got to be so good at writing? Or maybe it was how did I get to be so attractive? It’s all still so very blurry. But anyway, my first fire-off answer was God. Blame him. Then I followed it up with a simple explanation that I personally felt some people are just good at certain things and while they still have to work on perfecting their craft, chances are it will come a whole lot easier than someone who is creatively/verbally-challenged. When I was young, I didn’t read very much. Even now, I try to read when I can, books that really catch my interest, but the reading pile is scarce. I spend a lot of time writing and marketing. I DO. Plus, every time I write, the hope is that somehow I’ve topped the last thing written, as I’m sure the hope is for any creative person striving to make a mark on the world. Whether this is true or not, who knows? You’ll have to ask my readers.

Knowing what you’re good at is half the battle. Understanding your weaknesses and striving to improve them is also a key element. Then there’s that other twenty-five percent, that experimenting part, that curious part, that imaginative piece of the grand puzzle that allows you to take a shot at something. Even the writers out there who shouldn’t be writers should be commended. Why? Because they took a shot. They tried something to see if they were good at it. Think of it like joining the priesthood. Some things you just feel you need to do; you feel it in your soul. I’ve known since I was about eleven that I was gonna be a writer, and it has been confirmed time and time again. Maybe you’re the writer who is too timid to take a shot. Or maybe you’re the person who’s been squelching a dream you’ve had since you were young. It doesn’t matter why you’ve lost sight of the dream. Start looking again. Start believing again. Possibilities are endless. What hurts us, I think, is following in a line, doing a job we hate, becoming something we knew were never meant to be. It takes guts to be a committed writer. It takes guts to put your creative talent out there where it can be judged, scrutinized, rejected. Do you have what it takes? Time will show the true artists from the false ones. This is your chance to be reBORN. What’s your move?