Does Being A Writer Bring You Joy, If So Then Just Do It

Your success is only a written word away

In an article written by Andy Murphy, he contends that “no one was born a writer”. I found this to be what I needed as I started my day.

There are days when I question myself. Am I wasting my time writing? I love writing, but should I be doing something else? And sometimes I think I’m not good enough. Don’t we all have days like this?

Then I think, if I wasn’t writing what else would I do? I think the fact that I had to ask this question is the answer — nothing, I should be writing. There is nothing else I should be doing.

Deep down I know what Andy said is true. No one comes out of the womb a writer. Everyone who has ever been successful at anything got that way due to their efforts, not by some God-given gift.

These two quotes by Thomas Edison sum it up pretty nicely.

The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are hard work, stick-to-itiveness, and common sense.

— Thomas Edison

I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.

— Thomas Edison

If you notice, in Thomas Edison’s view, nothing worthwhile comes about without hard work and persistence. This knowledge is what gets me up in the morning, and gives me the courage to carry on writing.

I am a realist though. I realize that I’m not the best writer that I can be. I know that I have much more to learn. I know that I can learn and improve, and I know that success is doing what I love.

That last part is key. Success is doing what you love, for a lifetime. Many would disagree. To them, success is in the fame and fortune that they achieve. No doubt, these are our modern societies metrics for success. The problem though is they can, and many times do vanish leaving the person empty and desperate.

If you love what you do, such as writing, fame and fortune only adds to the joy, it doesn’t define it. I have no expectation that I will achieve either fame or fortune through my writing. But I also believe that it is conceivable that if I continue writing, and continue to learn and improve, anything is possible. This too gives me a reason to rise each day.

As writers and humans, we spend a great deal of time on insignificant things. These things seldom move us towards our goals.

Writing isn’t about the apps we use, or the paper and pen we choose, it’s about recording the words. Getting down to the work of creating. This is what differentiates a writer from a non-writer. That is what being a writer is all about.

I know I was not born a writer. In fact, I was not born to be anything at all. I was a blank slate, an unformed lump of clay, waiting to be formed into something by life’s lessons. This is where we all start, and it’s a wonderful thing.

Through no direct training or encouragement from my parents, I was guided ever so gently toward a love of writing. Who that guide was, I do not know. Maybe it was God, or fate, or who-knows-what. It doesn’t matter.

What matters is that I found something that provides inherent joy. We all have something, it’s simply a matter of finding out what it is. For me, that “what” is writing.

It’s my hope that you find your joy as well.

Until next time…

If you enjoyed this article and would like to read unlimited articles by all the wonderful Medium writers, I would appreciate it if you would subscribe using my referral link below.