Risks

Writing's a funny old thing

I believe it's really rather beautiful. The right combination of words, written in the right way can convey love, tenderness, compassion. It can change lives, stir generations, start revolutions. The pen is by all intents and purposes, far mightier than the sword. We could raise an army of poets, authors and lyricists to promote every good cause in this land. To bridge the gaps of society by simply expressing ourselves in a way that reaches out to people. Do not tell me that no man has ever made a difference through words alone.

For me nothing compares to when words are used in what is quite frankly a 'nice' way. Nice. A word that at school we are told to avoid like the plague. Yet why is this? Surely you'd much prefer to be described as 'nice' in favour to a more descriptive word such as 'horrific' or 'intolerable'? The simplicity of your sentence doesn't matter; there is no pressing need for the structure of it to be particularly poignant or the language symbolic. But lace it with thought, with honesty, with conviction. We cannot know as writers how our words will make another feel, but we can guess. Lay your soul out on a piece of paper. Create something that's truly worth picking apart.

This inspirational tool of ours is far too often used as a way of insult, harm and destruction. 'Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me' How wrong we are to be taught this as children. Bruises from stones will heal, but it's the taunts of a bully that will stay with us for a lifetime. As clichéd as it may sound it will always be this emotional damage that effects us the most. Having confidence in yourself and your commendable qualities is an almost impossible task when you are being told daily how inadequate you are. How eloquent we seem to become at just at the wrong time.

I could talk for days on end about how much I admire certain writers, speakers, poets. Ultimately this clumsy attempt at creating something worth reading stemmed from nothing at all but procrastination. I write often but I don't like letting people read things I write. When I start to write something there is never any desire to let anybody else read it. I've only ever let one short story be read by others. It's a terrifying prospect for me. It means offering yourself up for criticism and humiliation. But I've told myself to take more risks. So I am.