I’ve always wanted to be a writer, more or less. I love to blog and elaborate things out written. Also, writing helps me to cope with things that happen to me daily, in a positive and negative way.

Nowadays, there is no specific degree or certificate that makes someone a writer, and in fact, the term ‘writer’ is something rather broad. Some many people run personal blogs or write books and poems. I think, the only important part of becoming a writer is that of putting words down on paper.

Today, I’d like to share with you why I love writing so much …

I have a love and appreciation for words that are carefully crafted out and sculptural. At some times, I’ll re-read beautiful lines words and devour their deliciousness. And sometimes I even read them out loud so that I can appreciate them even more. When I read them aloud I feel as if I’m tasting a delicious treat.

I use a text marker to highlight favorite passages of the things I read. I don’t read many books, but if I do, I highlight, underline and otherwise mark my favorite parts of the books. These can be whole paragraphs or just nicely written quotes I’d like to refer later on. Literally, I become one with my book. This is very important, because at some point in my life I’d like to review these notes to share my thoughts or feelings at that very moment.

I enjoy eavesdropping on other conversations and when I’m waiting for the train or while standing in line in a coffee shop, I love to listen in on others. It might be grandmothers chatting up their grandkids, it might be the couple that is bickering or the teens flirting. I like listening to the banal stuttering and the silences that fall between conversations. As a writer, you’re a great listener and you can apply it to what you write discretely. I then picture the story behind their words and you become one with the characters and find myself taking sides.

I enjoy watching people and I must admit … it’s not hard to spend hours just watching other people doing their stuff. The elderly woman walking her elderly poodle. The man with his hand on his girlfriends lower back. The young mother with her tired toddler. As a writer I try to observe everything around them. I take the time to look deeply into their space and picture what is going on around them. It’s like I take great delight in the actions and patterns of how people interact with each other.

While watching others I don’t just notice what is said and not said, but I also observe looks and behaviors. I try to understand notice what is missing, for example the mother without the baby in the stroller. The woman who is pregnant and not wearing a wedding ring. The man in the bar chatting incessantly about his wife and kids. Renovated houses, that stand empty. Cars at the end of the street that are always there.

The details matter and I try not to skate through life without pausing to take it all in. I read between the lines and look at what isn’t there as much as I view what is there.

I think to myself and sometimes while reading something I think “I could’ve written this and made it even better”. This can extend to being frustrated when I get a hold of a book that is badly written. The other day I just wondered how something ever got published with so many grammatical errors. I try to see books as a work of art and find that I am as much critical of books as much as I love them. Words have emotion and words can bring something to life, move me and also make me cry.

I can sense empathy. Whatever I read can put myself into the situation I am reading about. May it be the victim or the heroine. I can imagine living the life I am are reading about and become one within the fantasy of the written word.

Yes, I am a writer …

Picture credit: Nana B Agyei • Creative Commons Attribution