Being a Writer

"No story lives unless someone wants to listen."
~J.K. Rowling

This statement is painstakingly true and is one of the hardest parts of being a writer, there is always that lingering question in the back of a writer's mind; will anyone want to listen?

The most beautiful and difficult aspect of writing is sharing your work. It's like baring your very soul to the criticisms of people--raw, exposed, and easily wounded. Yet, it is a completely necessary exposure. For, as Rowling said, a story can't truly live until someone wants to listen and for anyone to listen, a story must be exposed to both praise and criticism.

A written work is like any other piece of art--a creation that connects to its creator in ways that only a true artist can understand. It's something precious. Carefully sculpted characters are part of their writer--members of a delicate and carefully constructed world that exists in the artist's head. The writer's work is a treasured thing, and it is painstakingly difficult to share one's creation.

Personally, the hardest part is starting. The first time I presented a piece of my written work to my parents, I remember my pulse racing and my eyes watching, waiting for the slightest hint of a response. After the initial exposure, it gets easier and one begins looking forward to receiving both praise and criticism on their stories.

A writer treasures the knowledge that someone read their work, liked it or noticed faults in it, and appreciated it. Writing a story is simply another branch of creativity, but never doubt that there is a writer somewhere who created it and relishes in the simple knowledge that their story lives because someone wanted to listen.