The Truth That Only Writers Know

” The creative mind rarely rests and the restful mind rarely creates.”

–Andrea Leigh Victoria Cirillo

Writing is a blessing and a curse all at one time.

Many believe that being writer is all glitz and glam, but that is far from the truth. Of course, it has it’s benefits, but when you begin a career in writing, you learn things about yourself that you never even knew existed. Suddenly what once meant the world to you, you now despise or vice versa. Your morals and ethics are tested on a day to day basis. You must constantly remind yourself to stay connected to reality and not get swept up in banter. You must learn the difference between how you feel and what is real- a difference our entire society has been struggling with for a rather long time.

As a writer, you must tread lightly, because those who adore you can turn on you in a moment’s time.

You must understand, you will be destroyed. 

Someone, somewhere will hate everything you’ve just poured your heart into. It happened to me for the first time a few months ago. I wrote a piece relating to a past relationship- which, was extremely hard to do- and I put it out there for the world to see. My hope was that at least one person who read it would feel a little less alone and a little more understood. My wish came true, but so did the backlash. I began to have people attacking me personally for sharing something that was clearly an opinion based off of real experience.

At first, I was so overwhelmed with emotions that the thought of ever putting my heart out there again was no longer an option. Then, I remembered the words a stranger once told me, “If no one reacts to your words, you’re missing something. If your words cause a reaction, than you’re a writer.” It means you must stand your ground and not give in to those who are too ignorant or cruel to understand. You must always stand behind your voice.

At times, you will have to ignore your feelings and represent the truth. 

This has been one of the most grueling lessons I have had to learn. I pride myself on being an opinionated person, but have always made sure to listen to the entire story before expressing sed opinion. As of recently, especially with the events that have been in occurrence in our world, I have had to put my own opinion aside and speak of the truth regardless of how much it hurts.

Yes, opinion pieces will always exist, but they are only of value when they are backed by experience. To instill a personal view, in order to lure people away from the truth is not journalism nor what writing is about. Writing with caution.

 Writer’s block will make you re-evaluate your life. 

This is your career, your livelihood and suddenly, everything just stops. When your job is to write but you can’t write, you begin to wonder if you made the right choice or even if you were ever really good at your job. Nothing is more painful to a writer then losing their creative motion for a long period of time.

The worst part is you never know how long it is going to last. Could be days, could be years (seriously, years.)

You do it for the love, not the money.

Unless you’re lucky enough to hit it big, chances are you will not be emulating the life of Nicholas Sparks or Carrie Bradshaw. You write for the love, not the money. The hope is to move up the chain, or maybe even write a book that takes off, but it’s not easy. It will never be easy, but if your passion runs deep enough, it will always be worth it.

If your passion is words, then speak them, write them and live them. Don’t let anyone ever break you down because they have different views.