Power in Words

 

 

 

"If a writer is so cautious that he never writes anything that cannot be criticized,

he will never be able to write anything that can be read.  If you want to help other people

you have got to make up your mind to write things that some men will condemn.

 

Thomas Merton

 

 

 

There have been numerous authors who have written under fictitious names or have written their truths disguised as fiction while other authors skim the surface hoping the reader can read between the lines.    For some, writing can be painfully slow, being entirely too critical, traveling at a snail's pace.  Others establish a formula for a winning book and repeat that formula continuously.

 

When a pen is held in hand, there can be an established flow that does not discern what kind of paper is available  or where one happens to be situated at that very moment.   Insight comes more easily when a writer is perhaps not trying so hard.  Content can arrive while driving, sleeping, exercising or reading. The key is to recognize the gift of thought and write it down.

 

Every writer has at least one style of writing to bring personal pleasure. One person may be a gifted poet, but might also find satisfaction in other arenas.  The point is any person who captures a thought has the ability to write it down.  The emphasis is never upon who will ever read our writing, but the truth is we all have something to say.  Whether we make notations on slips of papers, in journals, or in the margins of favorite books, matters not.  In spite of not acknowledging any value, the act of honoring the self is worthy.  Even if the writing is burned or destroyed, the written word remains powerful.