About this piece: The following piece is split into two parts and was written with the help of some of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I asked all of them a question: “what does it mean to be a writer?” Taking their responses, I intertwined them into my own writing. I am only one voice in a sea or writers, but I hope that there is something in this that strikes with every writer.
We Are the Writers.
We are the ones who look at life through rose-tinted glasses, through broken mirrors and examine the glint of light on jagged shards. We stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us-
The inventors,
The outcasts,
The warriors,
The fighters,
Those whose voices were locked away and like all those now gone we long to explore the world outside of the glass of reality. We slash wands through the air and let ink bleed through our hands onto the paper that hungers for our words. We walk through
War scenes,
crime scenes,
broken hearts,
battles left unfinished.
We examine words left unsaid, see their thoughts and cradle them carefully in our hands.
We are the writers.
We stand with a fierce determination, and the sun, the moon, and the stars hold our back, because they have seen countless of us throughout the centuries perfecting this art. “We are defined by our dependency and enjoyment of the writing itself,” and we look to please the drifting ghosts within the halls of our mind. We write to free our hearts, and thus we refuse to be judged by the “quality of our work.”
We see the beauty in writing and are in awe of “that emotion we evoke.” We realize the power of words held in the palms of our hands, on the edge of our mouths, in the corners of our mind and when our pain falls like tears onto a previously stained white-washed page, we accept that “writing is just another way to heal.” Because when we come back from our battles and lay down our guns, all we want to be is heard. To be listened to. And so, we write.
We are the writers.
We take our pens and strum it over the strings, creating music that pulls you in without a chance of release. We “tune in to others and attune them in turn to what might otherwise be inaudible.” We spin you under a single spotlight, singing songs that drift on the gentle winds of the
Past,
Present,
And Future.
We allow you to hear life on a level you never even knew, and we do so unapologetically and with the hope that you will finally know what it means to listen.
We are the writers.
We choose to bare a part of our soul to the world, and blow words into the air as we
attempt “to communicate complex ideas to others.” We look to all those who are waiting with their heads tilted to the side for the faint sounds of our music and “like a bridge- we form a connection between us and the readers.”
We seek out shadows familiar to our own when we choose to hold out our heart and know our writing “has done something not only for us, but for someone else as well” and that…
That “is more than we could have ever asked for.” We welcome estranged souls through our penned out ink, as we shatter our own walls because even though we may not know it, our words “create inspiration for some, and change the lives of many more.”
We are the writers.
We “create and explore new worlds,” and we constantly thirst for more, because we know the world that exists within our minds happens to be just as endless as the universe above our
heads, and we know that if we could pull each star down and unfold it we would discover someone else’s story laying dependent on this falling miracle.
And when we stand in the middle of the chaos, when we are pulled to our knees not knowing which way to turn, we look to writing and know that it will help us to “try to find moments of clarity.”
We experience and taste life through others like us, and every step we take towards the crashing waves of the end of our life, we are constantly looking to find something new in an experience that has lived through by countless souls.
“We have to smell, see, taste, feel, and experience our writing. Writers are able to do this. We can make anything into a story, and make a story into anything.”
And we know that “a true writer is somebody who writes for oneself above all else,” because
Even when no one is listening,
Our heart still strums a hollow melody in tune to the words we pen;
Even when no one is listening,
Our minds work furiously to take potential and turn it into a beginning.
We know we can, and so we do. We hide secrets away blanketed in the soft comfort of worn out pages “without showing them to a soul.” We choose to let our soul drift through our fingertips and fog the windows of the world because we realize that the greatest power and inspiration we hold is within ourselves.
We realize that there will never be any “subjective definition other than ‘one who writes.’” And yet this fact does not hold us back from choosing to make our own definition as we move through life. We know we have “something to say, or have fantastical machinations of brilliance interlaced with creativity- heads that never stop ticking.”
We see the power of sentences strung together far more than anyone else, and we wield it with a cautiousness. We reach out a hand to those who have sat at the bases of trees staring into nothing because we know that there’s “a lot of brilliance out there, just not on paper.”
And we are in awe of those “who do have the courage to come forward” choosing to expose themselves to a world without knowing what the reaction may be. We stand by determination and dreams and know that “a writer is anything but ordinary. A writer is a story teller in the most unorthodox way.”
We are the writers.
We see the stars above our head and write poetry in the name of all things human. We flick back through the pages of history, shaking our head in wonder when we see the
Power,
Beauty,
and Grace.
We “capture the experiences” and are constantly “sharing stories.” We know that there is something within us that “needs to be voiced, a feeling or a memory, that we know we alone can’t have.”
We are the writers.
The artists.
The dreamers.
We reach inside of ourselves and “unapologetically offer our heart to the world” because we refuse to be ashamed of the gift we were given. Even when we are coated with darkness, even when all we’re doing is releasing the pain that burns up within us, we are still forming connections. And “each reader reads a piece through different lens and pulls out different lessons and themes.”
We do not always know who we are speaking to, but we take the chance and sit across an empty chair as we pour out our thoughts. We don’t always realize that there is a veil between us and this chair- that on the other side ideas are sparking to life, and a connection transcends boundaries of time and space to connect two individuals together who never thought anyone would understand.
“Writers have the privilege to offer this great gift to the world.” To be able to say somewhere in their life they chose to look beyond the surface and delve into an individual’s heart and soul.
“Writers are the rebels of society. We have great power, and an even greater responsibility.”
And sometimes-
Link to We are the Writers (II)
To Save a Voice 
Leave a comment