Why I Write

Summary

The author shares their personal journey and dedication to writing, emphasizing its challenges and the path from journalism to authorship.

Abstract

The article titled "Why I Write" delves into the author's lifelong relationship with writing, which began in adolescence. Initially a political young woman, the author was drawn to journalism to bring attention to unreported events, believing in the power of media to inform the public. The author's career progressed from a small publication in Los Angeles to larger newspapers, facing the tough critiques of editors along the way. Despite the challenges, the author cherishes the lessons learned in journalism, including meeting deadlines, conducting thorough research, asking probing questions, and developing a thick skin. The article concludes by reiterating the difficulty of writing but also its centrality to the author's identity and career.

Opinions

Writing is perceived as difficult by many, yet the author believes anyone can write with determination.
The author started writing early in life, likely with a journal or diary, and evolved into writing short stories and poetry.
Journalism was chosen as a means to influence and inform, driven by a desire to make events and people known to the world.
Working with editors, especially in newspaper journalism, is challenging and requires a resilient personality.
The newsroom is described as a judgmental environment where robust opinions are common, yet this is also part of its charm and learning experience.
The author values the skills and discipline acquired through journalism, including adherence to deadlines and thorough research.
Despite the tough nature of the business, the author loved journalism and embraced the evolution of their career into different writing roles, including researcher, editor, technology analyst, and author.

Why I Write

It’s all I know how to do

Photo by Bich Tran for Pexel

If it comes up in a social event that I’m a writer, I often hear the response. “Oh, I wish I could write, but it is too difficult.” Or, “I could never write.” Or, “That is so impressive. It must come easy to you.”

How do I answer such a response?

The answer to all these questions is: “Yes, it is difficult. However, you certainly can write if you put your mind to it, and don’t be so impressed.”

If you ask most writers, they will tell you they started writing a long time ago. Most likely when they were adolescents. It’s just that kind of thing. Probably we started keeping a journal or diary as kids, and our writing evolved from there. We may have started writing short stories and poetry.

My experience lead me to become a journalist. I was very political as a young woman and realized early that if the media didn’t cover an event, it may as well not have happened at all because no one knew about it.

I wanted to be that person that had the power to make the world aware of an event or a person.

I went from an intern at a small Los Angeles publication that no longer exists to a weekly, and finally to a couple of dailies. I learned how to work with editors at such publications, which is not easy. You need to have a very thick skin in that business. Newspaper editors are not known for their easy-going personalities as well as they have the freedom to say whatever they want about you.

Tough it up, baby.

I loved the business even though I had some difficult bosses. The newsroom is a very judgmental place, yet we all took advantage of the openly opinionated environment. I would say the comments made the rounds, and we were all victims at some point, and we would all laugh.

My career evolved from journalist to being a researcher, to becoming an editor, then a technology analyst, to finally an author, which I never saw coming.

I loved it all. To me, journalism is a great teacher on so many levels. You learn to live with deadlines, which trains you to get stuff done. You learn to dig deep about any topic, which teaches you how to do research. You learn to ask questions, and you learn to listen.

So, I would say to answer the question at the beginning of this blog, writing can be difficult and never comes easy, but it is all I know how to do.