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I Am (not) A Writer
When I entered college, I wasn’t sure about much. The one piece of knowledge that I did feel certain about was my inability to write. My sister was the writer in the family, and I admired her ability to communicate so beautifully through the written word. During my first semester of my freshman year at Duke, I was required to take a writing course. Dreading the class, I tried to find some way to avoid taking it, but there was no exception clause.
On the first day of class, we were given a short questionnaire to complete. We would keep the completed questionnaire, sealed in an envelope, until the end of the semester. I still have this questionnaire with my school materials. Scanning my answers, I found that I wrote the same statement six times: I am NOT a writer.
Although I resisted this course with practically every ounce of my being, it is probably the most influential course I ended up taking. It forced me to challenge everything I believed about myself (in particular, sticky labels like “non-writer”) and to overcome my fear of putting pen to paper.
Rough drafts are ROUGH, not PERFECT.
Seriously? I couldn’t believe this statement when I heard my professor say it the first time. I can only imagine what I thought at the time: “Oh… okay, so I’ll spend six hours editing the draft rather than seven.” When we were given our first assignment to write within a 20-minute period, I had to let go of the need to be perfect and write a rough draft. It was painful, but necessary to finally understand that writing is more about the process than the final product.
Criticism is helpful, not defeating.
In my all-or-nothing mind, criticism was not something that one asked for within the world of academics. It was akin to failure and just a nicer way for someone to comment: “why would you turn in something so horrible?” But each paper we turned in was critiqued prior to grading, which meant we had the opportunity to incorporate the comments into our writing before we received a grade. By the end of the semester, I was practically begging for comments that would help me to improve my work. The lessons I learned from these diverse and thoughtful suggestions were priceless, and I realized that criticism was something that helps us immensely in our academic careers. It is rare to get a teacher or mentor who is willing to help you along the way; when you do, relish the opportunity with gratitude.
Writing is not a skill, but an action.
While I won’t debate the nature-versus-nurture theory of writing prowess, I know that one can’t write without taking action. Regardless of one’s DNA, words don’t get written without the movement from brain to pen or keyboard. Showing up to write is 90% of the battle. It doesn’t get easier along the way—or at least it hasn’t yet for me.
But, I have nothing new to say!
This thought was my main concern. I absorbed knowledge like a sponge, but didn’t like to challenge it. I couldn’t imagine questioning something that I didn’t feel I was already an expert on, like life or psychology or writing. In reality, we all have something new to say, regardless of our experience. This realization clicked for me while working with children. If I could learn so much from them, I had no excuse for not throwing my opinion into the ring for discussion.
What are you trying to say?
This question is the anchor for my writing today. It grounds me to the topic at hand and minimizes the number of tangents. In this piece, what am I trying to say? Better yet, what are you trying to say?
{image: yvette inufio photography}
Related "ripples" you might enjoy:
- Between the Mind and the Pen
- Writing without Writing
- How to Talk Your Way to Greater Productivity
- Pen & Paper & Proust: Volume One with Samara O’Shea
- Dare to Turn Knowledge into Action
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 at 7:00 am and is filed under Creativity & Inspiration, Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
14 Responses to “I Am (not) A Writer”
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I resisted calling myself a writer for years. It sounded too lofty. Once I got past that, I found people were very curious about what I had written. “Have I read your stuff?” Likely not. Fame was what they were interested in. Being the writer you are and not the writer others want you to be is when it all starts to fall into place. I love your idea of asking “what am I trying to say”. That’s a great way to hone, regroup and get to the point in the midst of a piece of writing. Very thoughtful piece of writing, Carolyn.
Katie´s last blog ..A Simple Guide to Living Life with Wild Abandon
Twitter: carolynr
says:
Katie, I can’t believe you resisted calling yourself a writer! You are such an inspiring wordsmith. So perfectly stated: “Being the writer you are and not the writer others want you to be is when it all starts to fall into place.”
What an interesting piece! “What are you trying to say” — I love it!
Twitter: carolynr
says:
Thank you, Jamie! I’m so happy that question resonated with you.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Carolyn Rubenstein and Spring Inspiration, Leigh Charles. Leigh Charles said: I Am (not) A Writer: When I entered college, I wasn’t sure about much. The one piece of knowledge that I did feel … http://bit.ly/98uQZP [...]
Twitter: run4kelly
says:
Carolyn,
I find myself in total resistance mode to writing right now. I have things I want to say and I am not taking the action to put the pen to the paper.
What’s the point? No one will read it anyway and that is not the point in writing
Taking the action in all things. It is that simple and that hard.
Twitter: carolynr
says:
I am feeling that same resistance today, Ross. And keep thinking to myself over and over: actions speak louder than words.
Not 100% related, but a great quote/reminder nonetheless by Steven Pressfield:
I can relate to that when it comes to designing, I always think it always has to be perfect the first time around. Rough drafts actually help in designing, there are so many ideas flowing through my mind that I can’t decide on which direction to go in.
Twitter: carolynr
says:
They help to filter through all the ideas and really determine which are the strongest ones and which can be tweaked or improved upon. I am such a fan of rough drafts now as well :).
Twitter: benspoont
says:
What an insightful post! I am not a good writer and these are great tips!
Twitter: carolynr
says:
You don’t give yourself enough credit. You are a great writer when you’re passionate about the topic … you write great cards when you send me flowers :)!
Twitter: ZimmerJohn
says:
Carolyn,
For a “non-writer”, you write exceedingly well. Who knew? ;-D This is an excellent post, and I appreciate the care you took to distill each point to its essence. Leonardo da Vinci said that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Your post is a perfect example.
Public speakers face many of the same hurdles as writers when it comes to crafting a compelling speech. If you have not seen it, you might enjoy this post with a clip from the movie “Finding Forrester” in which Sean Connery explains the concept of “free writing” http://wp.me/pwfa1-ev
Cheers!
John
http://mannerofspeaking.org
John Zimmer´s last blog ..Speeches from Film- The Pursuit of Happyness
As Ellen Gilchrist says over and over in The Writing Life, writing is rewriting.
I struggle with this as well because “good” writers always seem to make writing look so effortless and it takes me hours to get to a final product.
Twitter: clearlycomposed
says:
It took until I wrote my first book to call myself a writer. It’s not published yet and still in revisions but having written it, having done it, gave me permission to say I am a writer, heck, I am an author too! I must be since I will be editing for the next six months. *lol* Fun post to read…thanks. :)
Clearly Composed´s last blog .. Balance In Action