Writing Pains by Phillip Kalafatis

Writing is pain. Well… not physical pain, unless you’re writing epic poems out by hand (calm down Homer.)
It’s the type of pain that makes your head pound and words blur before your eyes. The feeling of all the words building up in your head but not coming out through your hand. Come on hand, you think, get with the program. This Gatsby essay is not going to write itself. 
If you thought that writing in any form, whether it be essays or stories, was going to be easy — especially in high school — I got bad news, buttercup. It’s hard. For me though, it is the pain that I enjoy. The feeling of creating something unique, something new, that’s why I like it so much. I didn’t always like writing as much as I do, specifically essays for school.
I always found the essays we had to write for English to be bland. That was until I realized that I could enjoy writing the essay by writing about something I enjoy. Shocking. The key that I have found to be the most effective for good writing is to write about something, or even anything that draws your attention. If you’re scanning a list of proposed essay ideas, one might grab your mind and set it spinning, drawing connections, and forming in your mind.
Well duh, you might say, but what if that topic is super difficult? What if it requires more quotes, more research, and more analysis? Do it. Write the best essay you can about why yellow is the single most important aspect of Gatsby’s parties. Write that essay about the sun imagery of Lucie Manette.
The beauty of writing is that you are creating something new. You are bringing new thoughts into the world. Even if the topic has been beaten to a quasi-literary death, you are still bringing your unique view.
Because if you don’t write your thoughts, who will?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *