Twenty-Something Year Old Journalist

While I’m not entirely sure why you’re asking me that, since I’m here and happen to have the time, I’ll divulge.

Coming from a long lineage of unpublished writers, the writing process, of course, comes easy to me. 

How could one know if they are meant to be a writer, though? 

Anyone can write, but only writers can… write?

Ever since my fifth-grade creative writing piece, “The Day My Dog Talked,” was chosen as the class example and promptly circulated as a PDF to my family for praise, I knew I had found my calling.

Although I may have missed my big break when granted the opportunity to write the lead story for the school newspaper by wildly overestimating how affected my fellow middle school peers would be over the passing of comedy legend Joan Rivers, I didn’t let this miscalculation interfere with my goals and aspirations. 

Those goals and aspirations being having a wildly successful blog with over half of half of 100 subscribers, of course. 

But none of my autobiographical account truly explains how to be a writer. 

To be a writer, you first and foremost must yearn to write. You must be in social situations, out and about, taking a brisk walk, grabbing a coffee, or on a date and wish more than anything you were writing instead. (Being an introvert also helps with this). 

You must have iPhone notes filled with stray ideas, jokes, half-written thoughts, only ever returning to them when bored on a plane. Your notebooks must be filled with outlines of potential articles, incoherent to the average eye, but a work of art to yourself. Your Google Docs must be littered with half-finished pieces that eventually get moved into an ‘Unfinished Works” folder, never to see the light of day again. 

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but majority of the ideas and drafts you have will never be used. You’ll look at them on a rainy day, get excited about its potential and maybe even add a couple more words to it, but ultimately, you have to make peace with having one finished work for every five (being generous here) unfinished drafts. 

Contrary to what your past English teachers may have said, there actually is a right answer when it comes to writing. Although I’m not able to tell you what exactly makes writing correct, you’ll know after spending 10+ minutes on a singular sentence, crafting it to the Gods, clapping your hands in excitement upon completion, reading it over and over again without getting bored, picture this singular sentence shooting you to the top of The New York Times Best Seller list, and most important than all, feeling that upon completion you now deserve a lengthy break. 

Though not a personal favorite of mine, getting use to writer’s block is necessary to becoming a writer. The feeling of staring at a blank sheet of paper, wanting so badly to put anything coherent down, but the absolute inability to do so. Possible solutions include smoking a joint, going for a walk, and irritably chucking whatever is closest and most chuck-able to you. (All three should be performed for increased moodiness). 

Once you are finally able to get something, anything down on paper, now comes the real test of a true writer: editing. 

Despite what you may think, majority of the time it takes to complete a piece isn’t the writing, it’s the rewriting. It may feel good to finally complete a piece of work you’ve been working on, but you’ll need to ensure you enjoy those fleeting moments of joy before realizing there is still a lot more work to be done. 

Follow these steps and it should be easy to be a writer. 

Now, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend anyone becoming a writer in this economy, (I’ve lost money by paying for a WordPress subscription), but if you desire a fun fact about yourself guaranteed to get no followup questions, want your biggest fan being your grandpa, and happen to have the Thesauras open 24/7, then you may have just found your calling.