Sometimes I just start writing. I may not have a topic or a reason, I just enjoy the feel of the pen in my hand...oh yes, I still use pens and paper (old school). Typing is convenient when I'm blogging or doing homework (the irony here is that I wrote this treatise by hand, first), but when I want to enjoy writing... when I want to become absorbed by my writing... I pull out my pad of paper. It's something that goes with me most places, just in case I find a sudden burst of inspiration somewhere (trust me, it happens a lot). There is something fulfilling about placing ink on paper. Something fulfilling about being able to craft each individual letter and space. It is so easy to express myself when I can control the exact size, shape, and appearance of my words. Granted, Microsoft Word allows for some limited crafting, but it just doesn't feel the same. I would liken crafting letters, words, and paragraphs to an artist painting. It's true that pictures and music are more universal, but, in my own life, I express my feelings through written words. Crafting is my art. It's one of my passions in life.
Being that writing is one of my passions, I feel the need to encourage you all to write every now and again. It is often easy to believe that you are incapable of writing well. This is a misconception. It is something that is fed to us from elementary school all the way through the end of high school. Our teachers feel the need to make us conform to their ideas of what good writing is. We are told to use more commas, avoid fragments, have a strong thesis, cite our information a certain way, and so on... These are all excellent suggestions... if you desire to write textbooks or scholarly works. But how often did our teachers encourage us to just write? Forget about the topic. Forget about the purpose. How often did they encourage us to put our pens on paper and let the words flow out? English is a language of exceptions. It's meant to be individualized. Language is meant to be enjoyed. It has a utilitarian purpose, yes. But it also has a completely artistic side to it. Whether you're writing poetry, history, narratives, discourses, or just talking to the paper. How many animals know how to write? How many animals can create something like this? It's one of those things that is unique to humans.
If writing like a scholar is not in your future, then why should you be forced to learn how to write like one? Perhaps the old adage, "those who can't do, teach" applies here. Perhaps our English teachers are bitter about not being able to create beauty through words. Pure fallacy, of course. Words are beautiful regardless of who pens them. Use them. Shape them into beautiful images. Express yourself. Learn that there is just as much beauty in your own writing as there is in a masterpiece painting.
