I recently talked to a high school girl about writing. She said she hated writing. This did not surprise me too much. After all, God made us all different. Just because a blank sheet of paper thrills me doesn't mean that everyone has to feel the same way about it. I know some people who sincerely dislike writing.
But then I had the opportunity to read some pieces that this high school girl had written. I expected something boring and awkward since this was just something she had to do to pass her English class. Instead, it was quite the opposite.
Writing is an art. Art is an expression of the artist. Look at a painting and see how much you can tell about the painter. Does he make big, bold strokes or tiny, careful ones? Does he choose bright colors or somber tones? How did he feel about the subject he was painting? How does he feel about painting as an expression? What things does he like to paint?
In the same way, you can see the author through her writing. In this high school girl's papers, I saw that she loved telling a story. She loved picking her words carefully. She thought about the most creative ways to say something. She was a writer.
I don't know how it came to be that she thought she hated writing. I don't know why she didn't think she was good at it. I do know that she is an artist, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her papers.
That, of course, does not mean that she has to love writing or that she must now make a career of it. But I never again want to hear her say that she is not good at it. If she wants to be a writer, she can.
Some people are not writers. She is not one of those people.
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