My first memory of being read to as a child was when I was about seven years old. My mother was reading The Lion King to me, and I remember thinking to myself how desperately I wanted to be able to read as fast and clear as my mother. Reading became something I did not only because I enjoyed it but because I wanted to be good at it. I had something to strive for. Writing is the same way. New writers (or really anyone who’s trying to learn and improve at something new) can often become frustrated because what they’ve created in their head doesn’t look like what they’ve put down on paper. It’s the same with someone who sees a beautiful sunset and wants to take a picture of it, but when they do, it’s nowhere near as magnificent. But if they had a great camera and the skill to know what the right things to do with that camera were, they could perfectly capture what they were seeing.
There’s a saying. I’m not sure who said it first. “A professional is an amateur who never quit.” Sure, there are people out there who are born with natural talent for certain things. But natural talent is just one small part of success. You can have all the natural talent in the world, but if you never sit down to do something, you’ve still never accomplished it. We have so many gifted writers who come into Write On, but would the world ever know they were so gifted if they never sat down and took the time to write?
All that being said, there’s more to being great at something than just natural talent. Natural talent is an excellent jumping off point, but we still have to develop skill, we still have to practice, and if you aren’t born with a natural talent for the specific skill you want to learn (like writing), you can still learn and excel at that skill! The only thing that can stand in your way is you!
And that’s where Write On comes in. Sometimes a writer wants to learn how to develop skill or develop their own style, but isn’t sure where to start. Practice. You start by practicing, and here at write on, we’re all practicing together, whether it be the brand new writer who’s learning from the very beginning how to stretch their wings, or a seasoned writer who just needs the practice so that they never lose touch with their passion.