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Saturday, July 7, 2012

Writers

Saying writers love to write is like saying Lionel Messi is a good footballer.

Writers live to write. It’s like a drug, gnawing away constantly at their souls, making them jumpy and irritated when separated for too long. They have their own niches, but they’re usually happy enough to take on any topic or challenge you throw at them. As long as they get to write.

But one thing writers have in common is that they never write about this passion of theirs. This also means not writing about themselves - writers. Which is strange; this isn’t a topic that lacks meat or detail, and there’s certainly much to say about this weirdly fascinating group of people.

This is a short piece for writers, about writers.


Writers! You’re certainly an interesting bunch. You come from literally every corner of this little earth, bringing with you different ways of speech, dress, and of course writing. But on closer inspection, you’re not really so different from each other after all.

You see yourself as unique, an individual that’s constantly ahead of the curve, or deliberately avoiding it. This isn’t a bad thing; it boosts your confidence, gives you a sense of invincibility. On the flip side, writers are always influenced by their surroundings and neighbours, and the biggest giveaway is always your writing styles. Yet you continue to despair about how the world doesn’t understand you, how you’re made for a different place, but yet secretly revel in the belief that you stand out from “the rest of them”.

Writers - you sure have an affinity for humanities and the arts. Given what you do, it really isn’t surprising. You like to write about these topics in long, drawn-out sentences, saturated with even longer descriptions, all while trying to find the hidden meaning of it all, especially when it comes to literature. Oh, you’re definitely obsessed with the hidden meaning - it puts you on a higher plane of thought than others, and therefore you strive hard to find this ‘big picture’ in anything and everything. Even when, a lot of times, it simply doesn’t exist.

Most writers are cheerful people. If so, why so emo, my dear writers? Something you all just love to do is to have sad, emotional endings. For some unfathomable reason, you think it’s arty, it’s ‘cool’. There’ll always either be this conflicted individual who decides to end it all, or the brave soul that gives up his/her life for the greatest cause of all time. Or his/her lover. And you marvel among yourselves about this oh-so-tragic ending, how deep, how touching it is. Then you go looking for this wonderful hidden meaning again. And yet you call Twilight cliché.

Ah, Twilight. If there’s one thing writers can rally around, it’s this. It’s not without justification; you are all staunch defenders of your profession, and you can’t bear to see what you deem a highly overrated, poorly written mash of words become more well-known than so many other better-qualified works out there. Sometimes, though, one wonders whether it’s that hard to just... ignore it? Or must the hatred go on, until the works are bashed out of existence?

Writers, there’s something you all obsess over and write about, and that’s life. No, really, think about it. It goes hand in hand with finding that “deeper, hidden meaning”. Each of you write about it in some way or another to a varying degree, whether in fiction or non-fiction, prose or article, and you constantly make interpretations and analysis like some kind of expert. Or you ask lots of questions, and make vague answers like “it’s up to us”, making yourself look all mysterious and knowledgeable at the same time to readers, while in reality, you, like everyone else on this planet, know shit about life.

Writers: you’re some of the most influential people in this world. And you know it - hence the sometimes lofty views about your unique self. But to truly use that influence and power, it’s time to realise that you need to know how to reach out to everyone, and not just stay within your little elite circle, discussing among one another about life (again) and agreeing on how, again, the world and everybody else “just don’t get it”. Big thoughts and big words are good for impressing, but it holds no value when trying to spread an idea, or having good discussions. It's time to step out of it and step up to it.

Writers. I’m one of them.

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