Wolf Pack Press : What Defines a Writer (Part One)

Carissa Smith, Creative Writing Editor
January 25, 2013
Filed under Creative Writing

I may be biased, but I would consider writing an art. As a writer, I suppose that makes me ? by extension ? an artist. I wouldn?t say I?m the perfect archetype, but there are many stereotypes I seem to fill being so involved in my craft. I?d go even further to say that, being so passionate about writing has made into the person I am.

If there?s one thing I?ve garnered most from writing, it is certainly perfectionism. No matter how many times I may revise a piece, nothing ever seems to click just right. The feeling of never being satisfied with my own work is definitely a challenge, but it has also driven me to want to go beyond mediocre.

I started story-creating when I was too young to even pick up a pencil. When I did begin to learn to write, the things I wrote on the paper may only have been words that carried vague ideas or feelings, but once I started I never stopped.

The determination and drive I had to convey my thoughts and the imagination trapped in my head, soon translated into the school realm. I was and have never felt completely accomplished with academics. I want the highest mark ? even the practically impossible full percentage ? possible. I want to be the best. I never really meant to be the competitive type. When it came to perfection, I only was worried about my only work and effort. I found though that there are two different ?perfects?. There is striving to push your own abilities as far as you can and that?s completely individualistic. The other sort of ?perfect? was not only excelling as much as you can yourself, but to achieve more than any other could do. I found that I gravitated towards the second ? go big or go home.

I was never confident that I would be better than everyone else. I could easily confess that there are plenty people out there that are smarter than me. However, that doesn?t stop me from at least trying. The goals I set hover above the clouds and seem not at all in reach, but I?ll still reach for them anyway.

With any artist, the lack of satisfaction is completely common. They can also be known for seeming withdrawn and I could vouch for that as well. It affects me most when I?m writing. Everything around me just seems to fade away and I am completely concentrated on what I?m writing. It?s a rare state, I admit. An artist?s ?muse? so to speak is very fair-weathered. It comes; it goes. It can even morph into something different if it chooses to. I have started writing out so many ideas and I can?t say many have been finished. Perhaps that?s another thing about artists. We?re rather finicky. We chase after things ? always in pursuit of something new; something fresh and unique.

Lack of attention span has always been a problem for me. That?s not to say that I can?t crack down and get things done. The perfectionism inside me that pushes me to complete anything that?s tossed my way would never let me off for that. What I am saying though, is that my mind never can solely think of one thing. I lose sleep at night, because my brain doesn?t want to shutdown. I race off on tangents and I can get distracted. My eyes can glaze over sometimes as I zone out. That may seem like a common teenage thing, but I can write full stories in my head in a mere period of a half an hour. Unfortunately, my memory seems to have the awful habit of forgetting some of the masterpieces I can dredge up, but that only makes me think of bigger and better ideas.

?

Source: http://www.wolfpackpressonline.com/creative-writing/2013/01/25/what-defines-a-writer-part-one/

News Ryan Lanza Facebook usa today foxnews cnn yahoo news nbc news