Writing- The Inside Out Profession

“You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say”. – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Looking through the tunnel of time past, we would discover that unlike many other fields and professions, writing cannot be said to be a quite popular one.
As a child, how often did you hear a friend say – ” I want to be a writer, when I grow up”?
We didn’t really even know what being a writer meant, but gradually, time began to tell using loud silent whispers or clearly unclear clues.

We began to see that girl who barely raised her hand in class, yet, had the loudest voice on paper. That boy whose thoughts were seen as deep and strange. Deep, perhaps too deep for his age.

The Journey

These and more were the beginning of this inside out journey for most people. Although many didn’t even realize when the journey began, however, the flow continued, leaving footprints on paths antecedently undiscovered; leading to stories untold.
To some, it began as a huge submerged burden, constantly hitting on the walls of the heart; like strong waves of floating muse untapped. While to some others (just like me), this sacred art began as an escape route in a seemingly clogged up world. Therefore, paradoxically, writing began as both a captor and an escape.
In all, whether the art found one or one found the art, the journey began anyway, from inside ‘out’.

The Climax

“Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending. -Henry Wadsworth
In this case, there seem to be no end though, as every end leads to a new beginning.
The journey goes on and on from a simple hobby, transcending to an addiction perhaps. The words just keep coming, although many fall by the way, maybe miraculously closing their ears to the voices within – killing the life behind every letter ‘spelt’, giving rise to an army of those who will tell you – ” I used to be a writer .” “I loved writing poems in those days.” “I miss writing my short stories.”
All these resulting to a huge part of oneself subdued, for writing is not just what we do but who we are.
The journey continues, a journey, not a race. So, some rejoin, finally responding to the call within.
Remember, it’s no longer childhood, life moved on, still moving, bringing along dues backed up by responsibilities.
Notwithstanding, the returnees come back full time or still manage to combine other jobs somehow, trying hard to balance purpose and life.
Meanwhile, ‘stay backs’ have become completely sold out to this course. Constantly writing and rewriting, in spite of the mockery and many rejections. Still, enjoying an inexplicable deep fulfilment, a driving force – the force deeper than passion itself.
The very force unconnectedly connecting the former and the later individuals who realized that writing is beyond an art, writing is life. A life to live, for we either live it, or it leaves us behind.

The Distinction

Unlike many other professions, all that writing requires for one to become a master in this field are- The Calling, The Will and of course A Pen.
In this 21st century, the pen can also be likened to the various keypads one can ‘bleed onto’. The will is ‘the drive’- the wheel and the calling is the ‘why’ – the intent of most content.

For many professions, one must go through school, take lots of lessons and pass the courses to become experts in the field.
However, the writing profession is distinct in its totality. This is not to say that one cannot go learn how to refine one’s skills, rather, this connotes that writing entails more. Beyond learning within the four walls of a school to learning in all practicality within the school of life.
This is the reason it takes a heart that understands the language of silence to hear when the eyes speak.

Writers are those who have the courage to feel everything so deeply, cutting through the crust of words unspoken.
Writing is the only profession that cannot be imitated in its perfection, yet can take the shape of all other professions. All may write,but only Writers WRITE! The difference is clear! Little wonder words rule the world!

A writer engineer hearts for actions and inactions, drilling into the inner most part of within.
A writer prescribes drugs wrapped in words that heal, maintain sanity or even inject the opposites.
A writer is the miner (the truth seeker) who dig up golden truth buried beneath the sand of times and seasons.
A writer is the pilot who takes you to places you’ve never been before, right from the comfort of your living room.

A writer is ‘the you’ reading this in utmost enthusiasm and preparation to continue the legacy of this noble profession, inside out.