I’ve always loved to read. When the real world is just too overwhelming or flat-out boring, there are endless alternate universes between the covers of the books that load a bookshelf. I remember finishing my first chapter book, my first book series and my first classic, all good memories. But writing my first story is probably what memory sticks out the most.

Frankly, it wasn’t very good at all. It had something to do with horses and a girl that turns into some kind of magic superhero; to be fair, I was only in the fourth or fifth grade. But it was my first story, and it’s what got me hooked on putting my thoughts down on paper.

Once I hit middle school and found out that horse-riding superhero girls weren’t considered cool, I threw my first story away and tried to forget about writing and focus on learning how to straighten my hair without burning it. I accomplished that (finally) and it seemed like I blinked and then I was walking across the stage at my high school graduation, thinking that I was heading off to college to major in Biology and go to medical school.

Yuck. I lived in that delusion for about a semester and a half, floundered around between a few different majors and proceeded to register for a creative writing class. Now, sitting and writing this article after submitting my first piece, all I can think as I reread it is Wow, I’m really rusty and Writing sort of sucks, not that bad, but sort of.

Don’t get me wrong, being a wordy, writer-type person isn’t the worst thing you can be. We don’t have it as bad as artists, who have to deal with the “Will you paint a picture of me?” and “What does it mean? It’s just a few shapes on a canvas,” but we aren’t near as well off as science-y people (yes, you have to work really hard, but if you play your cards right, you have a chance to make quite a bit of money). However, it still kind of sucks.

Firstly, sharing your work is probably the hardest and most uncomfortable thing to do. Not to say that sharing paintings or drawings isn’t hard, but even if you bare your soul on a canvas, art is still fairly interpretive. Words are straightforward and not exactly interpretive; they say one thing, and whatever they say, the author is responsible for. When you start writing on a level that you’re getting published or have found a way to get your work out into the world, this is something that’s hard to immediately make yourself conscious of.

One of the most popular things for writers to complain about is writer's block, but only because it’s seriously one of the most annoying and frustrating experiences that an artist of any medium can have. Imagine knowing all of the words you want to say in your head, but not knowing how to write or speak. Combine that feeling with the pressure and anxiety of deadlines and you can peer inside the stressed mind of a writer.

The very worst part about being a writer however, past the criticism and the nerves and the writer’s block and the “How are you going to make any money?” is the fact that once you start, if you’re truly a writer, you can’t get it out of your head.

You’ll never be free from noticing every incorrect literary reference in TV shows and movies, you’ll never stop silently correcting people’s grammar as they speak and write and you pray that no one will ever ask you to revise their paper because you know you’ll probably tear it to shreds. You won’t stop jotting down little drabbles of stories that will never be and stopping in the middle of doing something to explore a great plot that you just thought of.

Although there are definitely some things about being a writer that can be frustrating, if you truly are one, you know that all the good outweighs the little annoyances and that you wouldn't be caught dead doing anything else (even if it takes you a few years to realize it).