by Crystal Cook

Created on: January 25, 2008

True writers are born, good writers are made. There is a difference between the two. Not all born with the gift and love of words are good writers. A good writer is one who has listened and learned. They have embraced grammar and punctuation and sentence structure. A good writer can put words together with purpose; a true writer gives them meaning. A true writer does not search for the right words, the right words find them.

A writer must write. Words are like breath. Someone who enjoys writing when they can may very well tell a good tale, but they haven't the heart and soul of a writer if penning words to a page is a choice. A true writer simply must write. Weaving words is as essential as a beating heart. Not all who write are good writers. There are those who paint beautiful pictures with words but cannot put them properly to the page, not the way the world says they must. Many can write, only some can write well.

The passion a true writer holds for the written word is something only another true writer can completely understand. It is so much more than a desire, it is a need. When the words come they cannot be ignored, if they are they go away, leaving the writer to mourn for them. A good writer can grasp hold of an idea and build upon it, leaving it be when he wants, returning to it at his leisure. This is not a luxury afforded to a true writer.

A good writer writes to please readers, a true writer writes to feed his soul. A truly good writer does both and succeeds. A true writer does more than write; they dance with words to music only they can hear. A true writer leaves a piece of themselves in every work of words they create. A good writer is often remembered for his skill, a true writer is remembered for his words. A good writer knows he is a good writer. A true writer never thinks he is good enough.

Not all will agree. Therein lay the importance of words and the ones who have given them life. The world needs both true and good writers. We need to see the beauty of words. We need to feel them, learn from them and understand them. It takes a pairing of both the good and the true to fill this need.

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