I'm a writer. Whatever that means.
It's interesting what the connotations are when you say that. It used to be that the first thing that people extrapolate from that statement is that I'm published somewhere. The second thing is that I was a serious subject matter writer. The glory of the information age is that tons of people have access to word driven communication in print (albeit electronic print) form. This has facilitated the proliferation of writing from numbers and varied sources. Simply put, all of a sudden, EVERYONE is writing! Blogs, poetry site, Facebook notes and even status updates are everywhere. But none of those people consider themselves to be writers if you asked them. However, if you collected all of the postings of these people in their various outlets of expression, you could string together a pretty interesting tome. The written word (okay...the typed word) is enjoying a revival unparalleled in anytime in our history!
Ok so many, it not always GOOD writing! Sometimes it's not even complete sentences (you should see some of the papers I used to receive from my students-they wrote like they texted). But who are we to really judge? Highly educated people are writing, people with very little schooling are writing, and even kids who just mastered the skill are writing.
So the statement "I'm a writer" is now a loaded statement and unbeknownst to the vast array of people that are contributing to the Great American Novel that we are all writing our own little piece to, the description is now much broader than it used to be. Personally, I'm a novelist, a poet, and of course, a blogger but we have all started a new love affairs with the ancient discipline of writing. And I'm loving it!
6 comments:
Great post. Here's a question. Remember in The Incredibles when Syndrome wanted to give everyone super powers so that having powers wouldn't be so special? Do you feel that it's the same thing with writing, where if everyone's a writer no one's really a writer?
Weeelll I see your nerdy and raise you some more nerdy. Remember in Sky High there were different levels of super powered people: some were heroes and others were sidekicks. I think it's like that: there will be be people who write really well and have the ability to construct books and essays, and the like. Then there will also be the people who are writing for the fun of it and their skill level is a little less refined.
So to parlay your Sky High reference. Would it be possible to go from sidekick to superhero? Can people who write real well enhance their super powers?
This is too nerdy for me... tips out.
LOL!
I am interested in a response to the parlay. I've never considered myself a writer but I've been told I write well. I'm actually taking a business writing course now to hone my skills.
So far, so good. But how do I really know if I'm a good writer and how can I improve?
i think that the sign of a good writer is so murky these days. People who invoke thought and discourse are not always good writers whereas there are people who use fluid language and poetic words to describe quite mundane topics. I guess the main thing to consider is whether people want to read MORE of your writing.
Business writing, I believe, is a whole other animal. The syntax and desired outcomes are far different than normal writing. Trust me: I have a business degree!
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