When I tell people that I enjoy writing, I usually get the same incredulous look. Over and over and over. When I tell people that my biggest dream is to become a successful writer, they look like at me like I'm sick in the head. "What?" "Why would you ever want to do that?" "lol writing sux dude." So, since writing is apparently one of the worst things to ever exist, why in the world would I ever want to do it?
I'm not gonna sit here and tell you it's easy all of the time. I've been slowly piecing together a short story for an anthology submission, and I'll be the first one to tell you that there are roadblocks along the way. It's just an 8000 word story (put your eyes back in their sockets), and sometimes I think it should just flow. I mean, it's all just creative nonsense that flows from my brain to my pencil, right? Why would I even want to continue if I'm finding it hard to write a relatively short story?
I'm not a quitter. That's the short answer. Oh, you want more? Well, let this sink into your head then. You don't just give up on the dreams that you conjure up if they are real and legitimate. The only thing that keeps that dream from becoming whatever reality you want it to be is you. Or me in this case since we are still talking about my perplexing prose position. I've wanted to be a writer for some time now. I used to love to read. I still do when I can squeeze in time to do so between my debilitating Netflix addiction and whatnot. I love getting lost in the realm of a well-crafted story. If it's good enough it doesn't even matter as much what genre the book calls home.
I would love to be able to give people that same feeling a get while reading a good book. At the same time, I want to give them the very best of my work. I guess that's why they say you are your own worst critic. I want to show people the best of what I can do and provide them a good experience same time. It's the same reason I write for our Odyssey squad here at UAH. I do this stuff ultimately to entertain you, my dear sweet audience members, and occasionally to inform you about things you should already know unless you've been living under a rock; in which a case, how the hell did you end up here?
Odyssey by itself is a great platform for me to grow as a writer, too. I get that question a lot. I guess it is an odd combination being an engineering student and a writing-centric organization. That's so daylight and dark, you know? Writing does help with my engineering stuff, though. Creative or not, it does actually impact what I do, how I do it, and most importantly how well I do it. Regardless, I do get some growth out of Odyssey as a writer. I can tell the quality of my writing by how well it does statistically. Does it hurt when my stuff doesn't get around as well as I think it should? Maybe, but my ego can always take the hit. Trust me. Is that some reverse-psychology ploy to get you to share my articles more? Nope. It's a good indication of how good the content I'm delivering is. Of course it could be the timing of my social media shares and stuff, but whatever.
I keep digressing from my point, but I knew that'd happen if I went with the long-winded explanation. But you asked for it, and I delivered it. I write because I want to. I find it fun and mildly entertaining for myself, and if I can entertain others while doing it then, yeah, I'm gonna keep right on writing.
