I want to write!

I used to dream of being a famous writer or journalist when I was in Junior High School. What encouraged me for the dream was the thought of having my name printed under the tittle of every my works. It would have been such a pride if readers recognized me as the author of what they were reading at hands. Years have passed since that dream, and now I am neither a writer, nor a journalist at all. Now, with limitation of nearly all aspects, I would be still having a dream of being a writer. Not because I would like to gain popularity and still have a dream of a famous writer, but it is just because I still love writing. Yes, I want to write!

People said that writing is easy. Arswendo Atmowiloto even writes a book, entitled ‘Mengarang Itu Gampang’. Writing is easy. Is that saying really true? To my personal opinion, at least there are three steps of requirements that someone should acquire before he decides to start writing. The three of them are the knowledge of the contents or topic of writing, the competency of the language in which we are willing to write in, and the writing techniques.

Before I start writing, I have to know what the topic is about. How can I write something that I do not know much? Thus, it is a must to collect necessary data about the topic. It might not be an excessive statement if reading is an activity that is not separable from writing. Even, if I may say, reading is a preliminary step that a candidate of a writer should have been their habit first, prior to deciding to start writing as by reading we collect what we would like to write. A little observation may also be necessary to support the data, so that we can present reliable writing to readers.

A language competency is also an absolute preliminary step of writing activities. The language is like the frame into which we should place the topics in, in the forms of subsequent sentences. From words to sentences, from sentences to paragraphs, and paragraphs subsequently build the whole integral text. No fixed rules of how to express ideas by means of a language, but in transferring the ideas into the sentences certain grammatical and structural rules must be followed. Not following the rules will not only fail in revealing the idea, but also lead readers to misunderstanding and confusion.

To make it easier for readers to catch what is the text about, we should certainly adopt writing techniques or strategy. Writing is not just a matter of supplying readers with information or particular data. It is more like an art of entertaining them while they are searching for the information through words. Thus, they will gain what they are looking for in the form of enjoyable activity of reading. As writing is the art of offering information in the form of entertaining people with enjoyable activity, guidance of how to write effectively must be taken into account.

As a matter of fact, it is not easy to write down our ideas to paper. If people said that writing is easy, it is just to motivate people to like writing. It is far more like motivational saying to boost the interest of writing. I do feel how hard it is to write. As the beginner, I have to struggle hard in both how I should make use of grammatically correct words choice, powerful phrases, and interest-provoking-sentences and how express my ideas from head to the language smoothly, like water flows.

I have been often making some mistakes as I arrange words into phrases, phrases into sentences and compile sentences into paragraphs, before finally it is coming to a text or article. From so many factors, this may have happened since English is not my mother tongue and, as elementary learner of the language, I still don’t have adequate competency in it. At one side, I still have to sharpen the competency of the respective language itself, and at the other hand, as a new-born learner I often find it difficult to ‘flow’ the ideas in the mind into the sentences. I often feel every thing is like stuck at the head and nothing comes out. Sometimes, I feel blank and don’t see anything to write. It looks like just sitting on desk with blood stop running to the brain and hands caught in chain.

To be a writer, it is still a long road ahead, through which I have to pace with full of efforts, struggles and pains. But, despite the limitation of competency, skills, and time, I am trying not to escape from this uneven path, a long road of dreaming as a writer. Indeed, I still want to write. No matter how hard the road and the long distance that I will have to cope with, it seems that no other way than just pacing it through. Yes, I still want to write, at least here, in this web log.

the site keeper,
a man who is dreaming of a writer

Related Post