by Erin Anne

Created on: April 15, 2008

Words are like water...

Drink up...

There are several expressions that revolve around "the gateway to ones soul". Some claim that it's music, and some claim that it's the eyes. I say that it's a person's words. No, not the words that come out of a person's mouth; believe me, I've known many liars and exaggeraters. When I say "words", I am referring to the written word. For me, the only time that I can be 100% real is when I am staring at a blank piece of paper (or in some cases, a blank word document). You can open your mind and empty it, in any form you chose, without any expectations or criticism. What's yours is yours, and it's because of that, that you can be completely honest. And that is why I consider writing to be the most revealing of ones soul.

Because writing is so important to me, I strive to make it important to others. Usually, when asked for advice, I suggest that they write down everything that they feel because more often that not, it brings clarity. And what's better is that when you're using writing as an emotional outlet, you end up with something quite brilliant. I've found that my most poignant pieces of writing came when I was either completely depressed, or extremely happy.

I believe that good writing is inspired. It can't be forced, because then, it sounds forced. You have to want to write. The most frustrating thing to me is wanting and needing to write, but not having the time. That's been my problem lately. The time that I am home and able to take two seconds to scribble my thoughts down, I'm just too exhausted and cranky. It's really starting to bother me. I haven't written anything (outside of blogs) in so long. It makes me long for the days of Creative Writing and creative deadlines.

I have a close friend who is a talented writer (though she tends to doubt herself), and she had chosen me to be the one who gets to listen to, read and edit her writing. I know she thinks that at times it annoys me (it doesn't), but the fact is that I feel honored that she would allow me to be privilege to something so personal. It's a difficult thing to share your writing with others, and even more difficult to take the criticism. I remember some short stories that I wrote that got torn to shreds by my fellow classmates, and feeling terrible because I really liked what I had written. But at the end of the day, the writer who is able to take and use the criticism is better for it.

Words are like water. They truly are. You can't survive without water, and you can't survive without writing. Can you imagine a world without the written word? I know that now-a-days people are more inclined to sit in front of the TV than pick up a book, but even if you're not a reader, it's comforting to know that books exist. We'd have no past without words, and surely no future.

Thanks for reading.

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