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| KERYGMA Magazine (September):I purposely omitted the by-line which contained my full name and the date when it was published. |
Not too many people knew I love writing. Or I used to write. But one day while I was looking at my old notebooks, this article I wrote for Kerygma many moons ago came back haunting me! The title of the article was too much to bear when I think it about now! The term "scorned" is such a strong word, lol. Eeeeeew!
Kerygma is an international magazine with inspirational articles. Perhaps most of you heard about the famous motivational speaker Bo Sanchez of http://bosanchez.ph (whom I happened to meet after this article was published back then). It was an experience I will never forget. This article was the very first full-length article I published for an inexperienced writer like me! So just imagine my surprise when I got the news from the Kerygma folks that they will publish my article. It felt like Christmas in August!
So how does one become a writer? I often asked this while growing up. In 5th grade, I knew exactly what I wanted. After winning second place in a local essay writing contest, I was too happy to play around with words.
To write is an expression. These days, they call it blogging. Back then, it was a language I only knew when I want to be heard. When nothing else mattered except the power of my writing, it became louder than my voice. Thus I made the point across. I often wonder why my mathematical skills were traded for words. I used to be good in Math. In fact, I represented my school in a Math contest where I placed fifth. But that was a long time ago. I couldn't even remember how in the world I survived because the truth is, I never fancied numbers. I enjoy the complexities of words and the power they bring.
In high school, I continued writing. From the most nonsense topics to the not so nonsense issues. We had this typewriter back then and most of my afternoons were spent maneuvering this thingy. I wrote short stories, poems and a failed novel. While others like to play around smarter words or terms when writing, I used simple, easy to understand letters because I resigned to the fact that reading needs not be complicated. If your goal is to impart knowledge, only the most important terms should be mentioned.
I aim for easy-breezy kind of writing and reading. Something you need not fathom what I really want to say because I don't want people to interpret it in some other way. Writing is powerful and so are one's interpretations. Simple terms mean I can reach out to more people. I do not write for the rich and powerful. I write for myself, friends, neighbors, family and even that little kid just trying to master some words. The language of writing is universal. And that my friend is Knowledge.
I got few regrets over time. While I became the editor-in-chief of my college paper, I wished I went on until my senior year but doing both my course and writing wasn't easy and so I finally let go of the writer in me. Being an editor was a good experience. And if I didn't have to work as a corporate slave, I always think I should be writing.
And because I had not been writing since I got a serious job, I am hoping that writing will love me back once more. Not much has changed really except that now I also like to write about makeup, travel, fashion and lot more. Deep inside me, I still want to be a children stories' writer. I still want to write about funny stories. I still want to write more. And I mean a lot more!
Write because you want to write. Never write because you want to be famous. Or become rich. Writing is a poor man's job. The only thing you should care about is how much passion you got inside your heart to pursue writing.
Keep this in mind as you go along: "When in doubt about your writing skills, write some more."
Love,
Miss J
