More than a a few times, and more than a few people who had read something I wrote, seemed to consider me a writer, and offered their suggestion that I should do something about it. They meant I should try to publish something. I always feel that I am only a writer in the sense that I write, and regularly, but I have never considered myself good enough as a writer in the professional sense. Apart from a few brain exercises I call them, the little fiction stories I occasionally attempted and posted here, plus a couple of times responded to some newspaper's public invitation to send in something on certain theme (I did and got published a few times), the thought of improving myself to the standard of able to publish articles and especially a book, frankly scares me to death.
I am also too free spirited, lacking patience and discipline, to work on set schedules, having to produce certain number of words per day, per article or book. It's more me to let impulse guide my pace and direction, falling sideways when pleasant distraction occurs, happily yielding to temptation once in a while and matters to me not if I should thus make some mistakes.
I do however, try to keep within certain rules when I write, as I have noticed too many hopeful, on-the-make writers overlook some elements that without their realizing it, hinders their progress to become a good writer; concentrating too much to, how should I put it, impress rather than just express, clearly and to the point.
When you are just starting to shape yourself to be a good writer, doing your best is not competing with other writers, but with yourself, against bad habits like the mistaken idea of standing out, the tendency of overloading with long and rarely used (therefore less understood) words, phrases or sentences, to appear more 'literary', but often become pompous and pretentious. Instead of using one good adjective, use 4 or 5 to show off your knowledge. Or try to make it more commercial. If your work is good, it sells itself. I believe there's nothing better than to use a language direct, clean and precise.
Many who believe they can write forget one very important thing: to read. Not just reading works of great masters, but read everything. Because writhing without having read anything is like setting out running without knowing how to walk first. Not reading to copy, but a sure way of learning what is good writing and what isn't. And that there are endless ways of saying the same thing so, find your own way.
