Real Words

I am one of those writers who has a difficult time taking my own writing seriously. Sure, I know that I’m good at specific types of writing. But they aren’t the types of writing that my internal censor says are “important” types of writing. As such, I have a tendency to dismiss my own writing work. What comes too easily to us is easy to diminish. This is something that I am actively working on changing as I believe that it is important for all writers to see the value in their own work so that they can continue to contribute positively to the body of writing that is out there in the world.

When I think of how I wanted to be a writer as a kid, when I muse upon those things that I wanted to write when I was young, it is always fiction novels that come to mind. And it’s not just any novels - I wanted to write the kind of novels that were filled with philosophical ideas, novels of the nature of those that made an impact on my own life. I wanted to write the next The Fountainhead, the next Identity …

But the truth of the matter is that fiction writing does not come naturally to me. And the kind of powerful details that I swoon over when reading them in other people’s writing feel forced and dull and  … well, like work … when I try to put them into my own creative writing. But I continue trying to find a voice for myself in fiction because it would feel as if I’d really accomplished something with my writing if I achieved that.

And I think that’s a mistake. Perhaps not a complete mistake. I do enjoy working on my fiction pieces in a weird kind of way. I really like the challenge of the work. I feel like I really stretch myself in new ways when I make the effort to expand my abilities with creative writing. I think that there is value in this process and maybe there will one day be value in a finished product that comes out of it.

But I am learning to find value in the types of writing that also come more easily to me. I am a highly prolific blog writer and article writer. I can tackle most topics with ease, enjoy researching them and find it fascinating to put information together into a concise article. I am a decent book-length non-fiction writer. I am fairly well organized and I can cull information from various sources and the work comes out complete. I often dismiss these talents in discussions about my writing because they come too naturally and therefore don’t seem enough like “work” to be of real value. But I think this is a myth. And I am trying to stop believing in it.