Writers. I swear, we are a series of endless metaphors and imagery, tied together neatly with really good grammar choices.
Well, some of us. I cannot speak for myself because I am always saying "I did good." God, I am terrible.
But one thing that I love about being a writer and knowing writers is that we have a lot of stamina. We are well-trained runners who do not give a crap about going the extra mile. If we want the story, we get the story. Even if it takes a day or a year to write. We will keep going.
A lot of you have luck, and some of you might not. But there is something that we all have but sometimes forget. That's strength and pride.
If you don't have that pride for your work and are willing to stand up for it then do so. Show everyone that they should care about what you have to say. Even if that means that you have to stand up and shout about.
I commend all of you for stepping out of your comfort zone to be able to portray the horrible and ugly truth. In a way, writers are like detectives. No, lawyers. I find that to be pretty awesome. We come into a figurative courtroom in our mind and try to expose all the parts of ourselves in a compelling, life-defining piece of work.
For the fiction writers out there, never stop your interests from fueling your creativity. Fiction is the best way to recapture a world that you want to live in. There is no shame if you love worlds that are dark and grim or worlds that are surrounded by unicorns. Never stop dreaming those things. Those things are a part of you.
As for my creative nonfiction writers, you kind of have to deal with the hard and heavy stuff. When writing any sort of fiction you can create the people that you want. But here, in this world, those people already existed. Some already have the haunted evils and the twisted minds. But what I love about you guys is that you shape and reconsider the little things.
All of those small moments in your life (or in anyone's life) matter and without you, we would never know. You reflect the truth from what you have seen in your eyes and that is truly a beautiful thing.
Here is a bit of advice for all you writer's out there.
Never underestimate the power of a prompt.
So much can come out of one simple, easy question. Before you know it, you are writing a forty page short story about the color blue.
Always submit your work.
It's better to say that you tried and failed than having all of your documents sitting on your laptop. Adventure (and possibly money) is out there! Just look!
Never ever ever stop writing.
Write everything down. Every conversation, every thought. Everything. This will mean something in the end. It always will.
Don't let your writing stress you out.
If you're writing something that seems to complicated or isn't coming out the way you like then stop. Do not press delete. Come back and it will always make sense.
READ.
If you do not have a pen in your hand, have a book in your hand. Reading will always help you no matter what.
Never forget: If you can live, you can write. And if you can write, you can live.
