Photo credit: Dhivakaran, via Pexels"Nothing is matter-of-fact for a
writer. Everything is a matter of life." – Danielle LaPorte
Long before I thought of myself as
a writer, I knew on a gut level that writing is the introvert's way of
making sense of the world. Before I knew the why behind anything I attempted to
write, or gained anything resembling the confidence to share my work, I instinctively
knew that putting pen to paper would help me process events large and small as they
unfolded around me. The path from "I enjoy writing" to "I am a writer" was
anything but linear, but I now understand that I traversed it exactly as I needed
to.
From writing ad and web copy for
day jobs, to freelancing, to finally getting serious enough about my own work
to publish a novel, each step happened in the order it needed to. And despite
advice from stacks of books and people who wrote for a living, it was a path I
needed to travel on my own.
The brilliant Danielle LaPorte
says our life is our content, which is true for everyone, introverts and
extroverts alike. Artists of all stripes pull from their experiences to put
forth their creative endeavors and express themselves with words, music, or
visual arts. But writers quietly observe what goes on around us, carefully
choosing the right words to illustrate events and convey, in the best—and sometimes
only—way we can, the feelings that result.
In a world that grows louder and
moves faster seemingly every day, writers side-step the noise and, from their
solitary vantage points, put the pieces together. The observations may not be
earth-shattering, the events not fascinating, but it doesn’t matter—the stuff
of everyday life makes the best stories.
