Writing: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Writing is a skill that many people would like to tackle. During conversations with friends in social settings, it is always impressive when you hear someone comment that they would someday like to write a book. Although, I am not sure how many of those people have actually tried, it is still an impressive statement.

At one time, I was one of those people who dreamed of becoming a writer. The thought of myself onstage before a large crowd of people, impressed by my skill and brilliant mind made my heart pound with excitement. Looking back now, I do realize all of those mental images were only thoughts of grandeur, and that maybe I should see a doctor for some kind of medication that would make me think more realistically.

Several years ago, I started my journey into writing. At first, I thought it was going to be easy. I truly believed that there was nothing difficult about writing a story. After all, I had been reading my entire life and everything looked simple enough to me.

The truth of the matter was that I soon discovered not only was writing difficult, but my writing was extremely bad, and maybe even ugly. I tried my best to write little, short stories, and WdC was where I made my first attempt.

My first review came from people who knew how bad it really was, but instead of criticizing, they helped me. Little by little, it improved, but not enough. At that point, I began to read more. I felt humiliated, and honestly almost gave up altogether.

After a while, I began trying something different. Writing poetry would be my new gig. I started searching for groups that wrote poetry. Poetry did seem simpler to me and over a period of time, I did win a few contests, but something happened that I hadn't expected. I became overly proud of myself. Honestly, I didn't even realize I had changed all that much.

Looking back, I feel sure that other writers around me had noticed, but all of them had been too kind to ever say anything. After a while, I finally gave up and became a quitter. This is something that I am ashamed to admit, but even though I quit WdC, I could never quit writing, because I loved it too much.

You see, some of us cannot help being bad writers. There are many reasons for bad writing. My bad writing was caused from being ignorant of all of the grammar rules. School was a fun place for me. I made good grades, but grammar was not my best subject. You see, people in West Texas do not speak correctly most of the time, and that does tend to affect a person's writing ability. It definitely affected mine.

While I was away from WdC, I tried to start writing a book. Although, I worked full time, and had two daughters whose dad was rarely home, I did my best trying to write this book. Then I discovered something else. I was so terrified of bad writing, that all I did was go back over my writing, correcting it over and over again. Then I searched out and possibly purchased every new writing software that is available to man. I hate to say it, but writing software cannot write a book for anyone. It is only meant to organize and help in other ways. So, I soon discovered that writing a book takes an actual writer.

A couple of weeks ago, I came to the conclusion that WdC is my only hope, and if I don't get control and finish my book soon, it will be too late. You see, I am now almost sixty years old. It is now or never for me, so I have decided that the answer has to be NOW. I love writing too much to give up. I know that now, and I will do my best to finish my book and try to get it published. If it doesn't get published, then I will know that I have at least tried.

At this moment, I feel that I must reach out to anyone who is currently struggling with their writing. No matter how bad you think you might be, if you love writing, don't become a quitter like I did. You must push forward by practicing. Do everything that you possibly can, because the more you write, the better you will become. If you don't see improvement, just read everything you can get your hands on, so you can see how it is done. I promise, no matter how bad you think you are, you can do it!

Take care, and I wish you the best of luck in all of your writing adventures!