Over the past couple of months, a lot of my peers have become creators for Odyssey. Every time I scroll through my Facebook feed, I see a new article to go check out and share. But I also see some people bashing it. They say that we only write “for attention” or that it’s taking away from real journalists. Hearing all of that made me nervous to become a writer for this website. I don’t want people bashing my writing without even looking at it or giving it a chance. Now that I’ve started writing, however, I realized there’s one major thing I’d like to tell those people.

Get over it.

No, I’m not writing just for your attention. I write things because I want people to know there’s always someone that they can relate to. Whether my article is happy or sad, I write because I want people to feel something. And even if I was writing for attention, isn’t that what writers are supposed to do?

If you know anything about how to actually become a writer, you would know that you need to practice writing as much as possible and that you need to be noticed in order to make it as a writer. Writing for this website has helped me develop my own voice within my writing and helped me learn how to write on a deadline.

I’m also not taking away from real journalists. A journalist’s job is mainly to focus on what is happening in the real world and updating communities on those things. For the most part, their reports have to be factual and informational.

Throughout the last month of me writing, I haven’t focused on any things that have been going on in today’s society. I’ve focused on things that affect me and the people around me. My articles also haven’t been completely factual. Most of the things I write about are my opinions on things and I write from my heart. Not many journalists can do that. They have to remain unbiased and I don’t.

I don’t understand why you have to bash on something that many people enjoy doing. Many other people really like reading these articles as well.

I hope one day that you can find something that makes you happy and helps you express yourself. But until then, leave the people who are already enjoying something alone.

Love,

A new Odyssey writer