I used to not always like writing. I kept a diary like most kids did growing up, but that was the extent of my writing. Throughout middle school and high school, I despised writing and did not appreciate it. I was forced to write boring essays and memorize poetry for class. I tried writing poetry occasionally but felt as though I was doing it wrong.
It was not until I reached the end of high school that I began to appreciate the beauty of writing. I was given teachers that opened my eyes to allow me to appreciate my own writing abilities as well as others' works. When I got to college, I decided to further explore the writer hidden inside me that was waiting to be awoken and I haven't looked back since then. I am nowhere near being a perfect writer, and I never will be. There is always room for improvement and growth, and I will continue to make mistakes along the way. However, I have learned through my experience with being a writer so far that it comes with its pros and cons. Not everyone is going to enjoy your writing and not everyone is going to agree with you.
In my personal opinion, based on my experience as a writer so far, writing is one of the most challenging yet rewarding ways to express oneself. For those willing to put their words on the world's stage, they must open themselves up to criticism on both ends of the spectrum. Whether you are a journalist, author, poet or something in between, writers are challenged to say what others wish they could say but do not know how to or are even too afraid to say it. Writers are challenged to speak the truth, be ethical and speak from the heart. They are challenged to speak for those who do not have a voice to speak for themselves and tell stories that would otherwise remain untold.
Being able to touch someone's life through words and impact them is a great privilege for a writer. Even if only one person is touched, it is still a momentous feeling like no other. Whether or not that impact lasts for a few seconds or for a lifetime, it is a privilege to be able to cause someone to think about something differently than they had before. While the impact may be taken negatively or positively by the reader, it is an impact nonetheless. A writer's work may not always be received well, and it can be painful when your work receives backlash. Most writers can agree that no matter what form of writing they created, they put their heart and soul into their writing, and putting it out for the world to judge leaves the writer vulnerable to rejection. When even one person recieves joy from a writer's words, it makes it worth the effort and overshadows any rejection or doubt.
