by Lisa Beach

Created on: May 08, 2009   Last Updated: May 09, 2009

Intimidation indeed: look at all the famous writers that came before. Margaret Mitchell; John Steinbeck; Orson Wells; J.K Rowling; J.R.R Tolkien and Stephen King. At one time, none of these writer's were well-known. J.K Rowling, who wrote the Harry Potter series was a mother of 5. Stephen King worked in industrial laundry cleaning, and Orson Wells was a woman afraid to write as herself for fear of being ostrasized by the society of her day.

Then there is intimidation by modern society, that sees writing as a hobby. Tell someone you write, annd the first thing said is "Oh, are you published?" As if that is the only justification TO write. But just think about what is being said. Regular society has no inkling of the passion, love, and hard work involved. Most often, the overriding question is "Why?"

When you [as an author] have such a small chance of getting published, why bother?

That's like saying "just because you are an artist, what makes you think others will like your work? Or as a songwriter, a sculptor, a dancer, a script writer, a fashion model, or an actor; a graphic designer, or public speaker?"

The "what makes you think people will like it" sentence IS intimidating. That is where confidence comes in. No artist ever succeeded by listening to non-creative people.

Well, a writer writes whether [s]he is a novice or professional, because that's what propels him/her forward. It's like any job a person loves doing; being able to enjoy the work, being passionate about knowing one does a quality job, means everything.

Being a writer doesn't quite fit as a job description. Writers write in order to get better at their craft as well as please an audience, as well as themselves. This is not possible in other jobs: the boss wants everything the company's way, no questions asked. Being tied to set-in-stone rules stifles creativity, and that's what writing is. THAT is where a writer's passion for just the right phrase, scene, dialogue or setting comes in. It is a cocoon that fosters immaturity into the refined beauty of a well-written article or fiction.

It is the overcoming of the intimidating "what makes you so special, or better than me?" What can one say? That writing is hard to explain? That it is done because the writer is COMPELLED to write as much as [s]he is to breathe? For her/his heart to beat? That there is an inner beauty in saying exactly what one wants to get across?

Non-writers give me looks that say I'm crazy, but they don't want to offend

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