February 12th, 2025

All my life I have been told, “keep trying, you’ll get better”.  For a long time, I thought that was just what parents said to their kids so they wouldn’t give up.  I didn’t believe it for a long time.  Sometimes, I still don’t.  I always thought everything had to come out perfect right out of the gate.  I now realize that what our parents told us was true.  While some people have talents that come more naturally to them, that doesn’t mean they had it easy from the start, or that they still can’t improve.  Others might just need to work harder.

I’ve always thought of myself as “being good at writing”, although I wouldn’t have necessarily called me a “writer”.  I didn’t think I had accomplished enough to be considered a writer, on the same stage as ‘actual’ writers.  But what I realized is that I can consider myself a writer.  As William Zinsser says, “You learn to write by writing” (Zinsser 49).  The more time you spend practicing and studying the craft, the better you will be.  Even if the improvement isn’t observable right away.  I have also always felt that writing gets judged more critically than other work of art that is created.  Maybe because more people are able to appreciate it and recognize it. 

Just like any other form of art, which writing is, it relates to people in different ways.  Some people love to read and not write, or vice versa (although I would argue, reading is another useful way to improve writing).  Some people write to express their feelings as others use drawing and visual art to do.  Some people write just because they are required to and never touch it again.  For those who write simply because they love it, writing becomes as much a daily ritual as brushing their teeth and eating dinner.

Again, writing is for the writer.  Sure, it would be nice if the reader enjoyed it and stuck around long enough to get to the end.  It is a way for the writer to convey their information, feelings, opinions in a medium that suits them.  “…Writing is the expression of every person’s individuality…” (Zinsser 234) and each piece of writing needs to be a form of that.