Why I Still Write
Writing pushes me to be a better person.
This week, I’ve received my 200th rejection from a writing job. I try to remind myself , “if they don’t know you personally, don’t take it personal.” However, it’s my writing that jobs reject, which exposes my creativity, mentality, and emotions. I can’t help but to take it personally. I’ve applied to all types of writing jobs you can think of: editorial assistant, journalist/reporter, freelance writer, copywriter, blog writer, technical writer, and even medical writer.
For all you writers out there, you know how it feels. When wanting to be a writer, a lot of doors slam in your face. I’ve mentioned it in another post, before pursuing writing jobs, my pieces were rejected in college, too. All my professors in my English courses would hand back my papers, simply saying they weren’t gradable. One time, five professors told me that in one week.
Even times, sharing my short stories, plays, movie treatments, and tv show scripts in my creative writing classes, my pieces got torn apart.
I’m one step away from just giving up. But something in my heart stops me from doing that.
I’ve been thinking about why I keep writing . Then, I realized there’s no such thing as a perfect writer. No matter how iconic or well-known the writer is, there’s just no such thing. Therefore, it will always be challenging. It’s something I can always learn from and grow in. I will always chase being a better writer than I was yesterday. Writing will always keep me on my toes. I can’t really say the same for a whole bunch of other skills or practices.
“No matter where we are in our writing lives, no matter how many bad stories we write, no matter how many good stories we write, no matter how much we’ve learned or how much we’ve mastered — we still don’t know anything. None of us can be experts at writing, anymore than we can be experts at life.” — K.M. Weiland
Weiland elaborates when a writer assumes they’re already good, they become arrogant and closed-minded on what they can learn. Maybe my writing being rejected multiple times actually helps me. If a writing job accepted me right after college, I would assume I knew what I was doing, and wouldn’t feel the need to develop.
Writing is just as complex and unpredictable as life, which makes it absolutely thrilling.
I told a professor one time that “I’m afraid I’m losing my passion for writing,” and he said, “writing explores emotions, it’s not an emotion within itself.” I mentally accused him of being pretentious at first, but it sticks with me, now.
