Molly Bauer

Sometimes I consider myself a writer but at other times I get so discouraged with myself that I start to question my abilities. Also there are times when I want to be a writer so badly I can't write anything. I feel like I write at my best when it is something from the heart, like a letter to my parents or a speech at my grandparents 50th anniversary party (which I actually had to do). After reading the first 3 chapters of this book I have become so inspired because I realize that I am a writer at my best times and at my worst times. I need to learn how to make my writing always come from the place in my heart. I know I should never give up even if I may hit a road block. I have always felt like writng is something that comes naturally to me and I was to continue writing in the future, whether for a job or for pleasure.

After reading the first 3 chapters in Lary Bloom's book I realized that you don't need a lot to be a writer. I always thought I would need to graduate high school, and then major in english, creative writing, or journalism to actually become a writer. Bloom tells us that he has published people who weren't actually "writers," and even people who didn't graduate from high school. I think to be a writer you need to be passionate about whatever it is you are writing about and have your writng come from your heart. It is important toknow that you can be a writer if you believe in yourself and have confidence.

Jathan E. Fink:

One afternoon, not so long ago, I was listening to a collection of some of my favorite songs when Sting’s rendition of “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?” began to play. The haunting lyric captured my attention, and my breath caught. Yes, Sting sang those words to some mysterious lover. Even after the last note played, the sentiment of the song echoed through my mind, and at first I was unsure why. As I read Lary Bloom’s The Writer Within, I realized why I have struggled to find an answer to that question.

As a child, writing and storytelling had always come easily to me. Of course, I had to learn grammar and what educators called point-of-view, metaphor, voice, etc. But the generation of ideas and characters, the creative aspect of storytelling that many found difficult, had never been a chore where I was concerned. I grew older, and oftentimes scribbled down stories based on classmates and friends, and they always wanted to read the most recent pages of whatever tale I had churned out. Although I loved to write, I never considered myself a writer.

The years passed, and I moved from one part of the country to another, from one job to the next, and was never truly content. Eventually, I even married and had a career in the financial sector. Yet it was not the loans or bank accounts that fueled my life. It was the stories of my customers’ lives that always piqued my curiosity, and more often than not those stories found their way into my journals in the wee hours of the morning. And still, I did not truly feel like a writer.

(To Be Continued....)

Jathan E. Fink (continued): In 2004 I left the banking world and returned to college, a goal that I had always wanted to accomplish, but had never before considered something that would actually come to pass. Then, in September of that year, I enrolled at the University of Cincinnati and thought that I should get a degree in business administration. On the first day of classes, at 30 years of age, I was excited and nervous, and wondering if I would be able to compete in an atmosphere where I was surrounded by people nearly half my age. Those thoughts quickly dissipated as the professor began to speak about business methods, operating costs, and an assortment of other business jargon. Suddenly, something strange happened to me. My heart began to race. The walls felt as though they were closing in. I could not breathe. If I was cognizant of anything at that moment, it was that I had to leave that class. I gathered my things and fled the room, feeling calmer with every step I took.
Using my cell phone, I telephoned my wife and told her that I could not stay in the business track. My heart wasn’t in it. In fact, I felt that if I stayed in that curriculum, I would die a quick and sudden death. Perhaps I was being dramatic, but perhaps not. Regardless, in my heart, I knew that my true calling was within the English department. She was not surprised by my revelation. After all, she reminded me, was English not the subject I had always excelled in when I had been in high school? But even with that realization, I did not truly think that I was a writer.
(To Be Continued....)

Jathan E. Fink (continued): Fast forward to a mere few weeks ago. Several years into my academic career, I had to take some time off because of some health issues I was experiencing. Time was my only asset at the time, and after taking numerous creative writing and journalism classes in college, I thought I would work on my writing and perhaps even finish the first draft of a novel that I had been jotting down notes for. And yet, even though I had time, the story just never seemed to get written. My wife was working and I was at home, and every day there seemed to be something to do, from preparing meals to cleaning, shopping, and washing laundry. These tasks consumed my days and I never wrote more than a few pages, in part because I was doubting the fact that I could actually make a living writing, and thus was left wondering what I would do with the rest of my life.
Then, as I was reading chapter 2 of Bloom’s book, I had an “Aha!” moment, as Oprah would call it. Bloom had been relating the account of author Nancy Slonim Aronie’s life and how she broke into print. He concludes the chapter by recounting many of Nancy’s literary accomplishments, and yet the fact that she never considered herself to be a writer until “she gave herself permission to spend most of her day at the word processor and not feel guilty that it was “only writing.”” (p. 22) At that instant, I realized for the first time that I felt very much like Nancy had.
(To Be Continued....)

Jathan E. Fink (continued): Despite the fact that I had always found my solace, my passion, and in truth, my joy in writing, I had never allowed myself to consider the act of writing as important because I allowed other things to trivialize the act of putting pen to paper. Not only that, but I had even allowed others to poison my dreams. Nancy’s story really hit home with me, reverberating through my soul and awakening me to my life’s purpose.
I love to write. Every day, in almost every moment, I have a story in my mind, and I can’t wait to tell it. Writing fulfills something within me that others find through an assortment of other mediums, from painting to cooking or a multitude of other activities. Sting reminded me weeks ago of what Bloom taught me today, when Sting sang, “…let the reasons and the rhymes of your days all begin and end with me….”
So am I a writer?
Let me sum it up this way….
Hell, yes!

Sarah Fasce
Do you consider yourself a writer? Why or why not?
My Response: I do believe that everyone has the capability to be a writer, myself included. I write to sort out my thoughts, to make sense of my dreams and to express my voice. The way that Lary Bloom finds potential in every person as a writer is very inspiring. Writing is like anything worth doing. It takes hard work, perseverance, and practice. For as long as I could remember, I have written anything and everything I could think of. I have written plays, short stories, endless journals, letters and poetry. I must admit, I don’t always have confidence in what I am writing, but I know that I certainly have the potential. I remember a piece that I wrote for my advanced composition class in high school that made one of my worst enemies cry. Words have the power to move and I witnessed it firsthand. Writing is such an ingrained part of who I am, I believe that I would consider myself a writer.

Sarah Fasce (Continued)

Think about the two writers the Bloom features in the first three chapters. Which one surprised you the most? Why? Which writing did you like best? Why?
My Response: When Bloom mentioned Dr. Richard Selzer’s story, I was surprised at how clear it became after reading his essay that each one of us has something we know a lot about. He happened to know medical terminology and how it feels to be put in the situation between life and death. He understands the struggle between putting your own feelings aside, understanding the relatives and friends feelings and the wishes of the patient. What you may find menial and ordinary, someone else may be fascinated by it. I found that story of Jean Gonick pretty extraordinary. The raw emotion that poured into her piece was of pure honesty and straightforwardness. E-mailing the piece without stressing over the minute details was her first step to being syndicated. I like this example, because as Bloom said, you shouldn’t write thinking about what others will say about your piece. Confidence is half of the battle in writing, and I feel that this is an inspiring example of how to get over my own insecurity about writing. Write how you truly feel without holding back.

Amanda Adams- I do consider myself a writer because I have the desire to write and I am willing to put the time in that it takes to become a great writer. As the book shows, anybody can be a writer no matter how much experience you have, you just have to be willing to work at it. There were stories in the book about people who had no previous "writing experience" and ended up writing inspirational and exceptional pieces, such as the surgeon. I think it takes a lot of work and determination to be a writer. Writing is a natural process; so you must be willing to put a lot of time into it. It requires organizing your thoughts and, instead of just copying down what you think people would like to hear, you must write from your heart and soul to actually have a profound impact on your audience.
The writer that surprised me the most was the surgeon because he was willing to take a risk to provide people with important information about the practice of being a surgeon.
I also liked the surgeon's writing best because it was very inspiring. In a way, it dares all other writers to cross over a few boundary lines and take some risks when writing because you should write what you feel and what you think the audience should know.

Duane Hayslett:
I have always considered myself a respectable writer but not one that people would admire. I have always understood grammar very well and had good sentence structure. The problem I have always had is that I never had my own voice. I was always good at writing what other people wanted me to write.
I think it takes a level of honesty and openness to be a great writer. I have always been honest in my writing and in life but the level of openness that I feel is required to be a great writer has often escaped me. I am a very reserved and guarded person. I don’t often let people into my personal life but have usually been pretty good at faking it.
As far as the writers that Bloom featured, I was most impressed with the Nancy Slonim Aronie voyage to becoming a writer. Her story somewhat parallels mine in that I have always been a good writer but never considered myself a real writer. I have gone through life following different careers until I found that my one true passion was writing.
The writing I enjoyed most Joe Kirkup’s story of Vietnam. The raw emotion in that story showed a passion for what he was saying more than a passion for writing in itself. The passion for your subject is just as important for writing as the passion for writing itself.

I love writing. I have been writing my whole life. Yes, I consider myself a writer in that I know that not “everyone” can write. Writing takes patience, integrity, empathy, and real substance. I have never been 100% satisfied with anything I’ve written. But I’ll never go back and change it once I’m finished. It’s a growing experience that never ends. I can always be better, write smarter. There is no way every editor in the world would agree upon one piece of writing and say this is the best piece ever written. A lot of it has to do with opinion. You have to take criticism, constructive or not. Can’t stand the heat? Get of the kitchen… Right? In the book, Bloom said there are two types of writers: The Child and The Critic. I believe I’m a child and always will be because when I write, I take into account that there has to be a sense of vulnerability. Children are so honest, naïve, but honest. You have to lay it out, fact for fact – the deeper the story, the better. You can’t think about what other people will say… But you, the critic, you can care about what you’ll say. Writing is my portal to say, here I am… you see what you get and not be afraid to back down from that. I like David and Daniel Hays manuscript better because it’s not out to ooh and awe….

Kat Foster: I consider myself a writer, although sometimes I don't actually think that I have the talent or discipline it takes to be one. I love writing--it's how I express my feelings and emotions. I can describe how I am feeling in words on paper much better than I can out loud which tends to frustrate a lot of people I know. I also enjoy reading a lot which I think helps me see different styles of writing that I can encorporate into my writing. I really enjoyed the first three chapters of the book, and it really made me realize that there are many different styles of writing and that you don't always have to have writing experience to write some really amazing things, like the surgeon's writing. It was my favorite out of all the ones we read. I think in order to be a writer, one needs to be able to speak from the heart and be able to write for not only others but mostly for themselves.

I consider myself a writer because it's the only way I can make sense of the world and my thoughts. Starting in junior high school, I didn't pass a piece of paper to friends, I passed notebooks, each one labeled with both of our names in order to keep track. We might have been looked at as silly pre-teens, and I must admit, the page consistency was creamy with gossip, even back then just talking about something wasn't enough. I felt that the only way a statement would have any legitimacy was if it were written. Eventually I dropped the hearts as the header to each entry, I dropped the declarations of “love 4-life" to my ever changing boyfriends, I dismissed the idea that all of my friends needed to know exactly how I brushed my teeth that morning, and started counseling myself through writing.

Through high school I continued to write, some months more than others. Now it's my only means of staying sane. Sometimes I feel that if I don't spend quality time with a notebook than I haven't truly analyzed whatever situation is at hand; I haven't explored all the possibilities or reasons why things are the way that they are. Although writing is enlightening and I like to play with different concepts and writing styles, I'm not one to get excited about allowing others to judge my work. Though sometimes I may be timid, I can unabashedly say that if it weren’t for understanding the importance that writing holds for me, I might have already lost myself within my own head.

I believe that In order to be a good writer you must be passionate about the topic you wish to write. I must agree with Bloom when he says “ ..if you have an innate curiosity not easily satisfied, if you understand that in your formative years your failure to master The English Theme is no real indication of your ability or need in later years to communicate..”. I don’t believe that graduating college with a 4.0 in all of your English and writing classes automatically means having talent. If anything, I think it means that individual looked too far into their studies and forgot to live their life a little bit. Although I believe that hard work and dedication is the only way to conquer your dreams, I also believe that one cannot truly say they have lived if they didn’t have fun while doing so. In order to be a good writer one must have hands on experience and genuinely have emotion towards their journey and discoveries. It is through this experience, the different outlooks they’ve come across, and the ability to acknowledge these different and sometimes opposing views, that makes even the most cliché of stories alluring.

My favorite story in the first 3 chapters was the one about the surgeon. Honestly, I think the main reasons I liked this story was because one specific description, where he describes writing as being completely opposite to the game of golf. First, the description painted a vivid picture in my mind which is one of the most important aspects to storytelling. If a reader can’t place themselves into a story then there is no hope that they will understand your point. Second, it proves a point that there is no immaculate process to writing. There is no specific way to hold your pen. There is no definable line between a good or bad subject to write about. If an author is passionate about revealing their ideas, there should be no pond to worry about sinking your ball into.

Let me just say, BRAVO to you all. This has been inspiring for me to read and I applaud your candid insights about writing and life. Because how can we separate the two?

Alicia Gaynor
I consider myself a writer,but not a good writer. I feel that there is always room for improvement and new techniques to learn. I am in the process of improving my writing. I feel it takes understanding in order for someone to become a successful writer. For instance, in order for you to become a good writer you must also be a good reader. As a reader you must be able to fully understand what an author is saying and also be able to identify the style that is being used as well. The writer that surprised me the most was Dr. Richard Selzer. I was surprised because usually doctors have a passion for math and science. It was rare to here of a doctor who felt otherwise. I liked his writing the most because it compelled you. His writing got straight to the emotion.

Emily Lang
(trying to catch up, slowly but surely :) )
I do consider myself a writer, though when it comes to journalism I feel a bit out of sorts still. All my life I've been a good writer, honors english classes in high school, cranking out 10 page research papers @ 4 am in time for a 8 a.m. deadline even now, high scores in reading comprehension and writing... hell it's the only thing that saved my ACT score! I scored exceptionally low on math, ha. But when it comes to journalism I almost feel like I'm starting all over, like I'm re learning the alphabet. It's hard for me, frustrating sometimes, because I'm so used to cruising along at 70 mph and now I have a slow it down to a crawl to re learn how to write.

More than anything, aside from the basic mechanics and a general sense of flow and style, I think you've got to have a voice, a point of view, something to say... You've got to be a communicator in every sense of the word, with a burning desire to tell the world.

The writer that first comes to mind for me, that seemed to have made a lasting impression is Dr. Richard Selzer. I thought his sample of writing was just so compelling and I loved how the passage ended with one of those little moments that everyone encounters now and then, so profound it almost could've been scripted, just one of those moments you have to write about, you have to share with the world. It's astonishing to me, the courage it must've took to publish the piece, despite the backlash he might've suffered. I also really identified with his process for writing, the times that inspiration always comes to me is late at night...quiet, alone...in a mood, it seems he too felt his thoughts were most viable and clear at that time.

JATHAN FINK: Where is our writing prompt for this week?