A journey to become a writer, from shutter to manuscript
Like most people, we all want to be something, do something great. Some want to become astronauts, actors, YouTubers, fashion designers, models, scientists, psychologists. Some of us want a legacy, to leave something behind, to speak out to the world and say, "I was here." Like a tree trunk etched with one's initials from a lover's knife. As for me, I wanted to become a photographer, and for the past 10 years, I've been just that. Now, I want to become a writer. So, what does one do when they want to become something? They get educated. So, I've watched tutorials, online videos, read books on the subject, and even watched movies. To learn as much as I can, like Neo being plugged in, but I've failed before I've even begun.
"If you want to be a good writer… you are not going to become one by always going to the movies and eating bonbons. You have to sit down and write, which can be very frustrating, and yet without that, you would not get that good result." - The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu
A writer's obsession, paper, pen, and persistence
I've come to realize that becoming something requires more than knowledge, except for historians, of course. To become, you have to act; you have to be, do! No amount of education can do that for us; no teacher can walk our path. They can only show us a possible route. To become something, it requires stepping outside of the metaphorical classroom and into the real world. It requires sitting down at one's desk and looking at that blank page until boredom is so painful that the only escape you have is to write, something, anything. That is doing, that is being, that is action.
"There's a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don't, and the secret is this: It's not the writing part that's hard. What's hard is sitting down to write." - The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
The Art of Doing
I want to become a writer, so the best way I know how to do that is simple. It's to do it—to write. It's the doing, the journey that makes us, not the destination; it's the learnings we get along the way that mold us. It's the sightseeing surrounding the path that gives us a story to tell, creating memories we can incorporate and use in our stories. Experiencing what it's like to be human with all its emotions and flaws. For me, the act of writing, this makes me a writer. Sure, not a well-known or even memorable writer. To be completely honest, not even a good one, but still, I can call myself a writer. This path I can grow, learn, and build upon what I have learned along the way. And that is good enough for me.
I want to become a writer, so I am a writer.
