Over the weekend, I attended a Writers Forum as a part of
the 2012 Wonder of Words Festival. Four featured authors read from some of
their original works, followed by a brief question and answer period from
audience members. While I enjoyed listening to all of the speakers, I was
particularly drawn to the work of Venise Berry, an associate professor in
African American Studies and Journalism at the University of Iowa. Not only was
her writing superb and witty, her presentation style was warm and engaging. I
could have listened to her for hours.

Writers. Writing. Featured authors. Authors. Wanna-be authors.
Thinkers who think about being writers and authors. Writer’s block. Writer’s
cramp. Are you a writer?
As long as I have been writing, contributing to books,
writing my own books or writing blog posts, I have not once considered myself a
writer. As much as I love words and as much as I love putting words together to
create something, when I hear the word “writer” my mind immediately shifts to great
writers such as Shakespeare, Dickens, C.S. Lewis, Poe, Homer, Mark Twain, Victor
Hugo, George Eliot, Thoreau, Johann Wolfgang VonGoethe, Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Edgar Guest, Kahlil Gibran, Og Madino, and Robert Frost.
I looked up the definition of writer and here’s what I found
at the Oxford Dictionaries:
Writer: a person who writes books, stories, or
articles as a job or regular occupation.
As a career management professional, I work with clients who
would like to write. Maybe they want to write a resume, a cover letter or start
a blog. Some clients want to hop on Twitter and make tweets. Some clients have
thought for years about writing a book. I have repeatedly heard these three
things from those who would like to write:
- I don’t know what to write.
- I am afraid to write.
- Who would read it if I wrote it?
You do not have to be famous or distinguished or globally recognized
to write. Writing is something that comes from your head and your heart.
Writing is something you can do starting now. Writing begins with one word, one
topic or one idea. Writing is about sharing your story because you matter and
your words matter. Writing is about dumping your thoughts onto a piece of paper
or a computer screen and putting it out there. You can stuff your thoughts and
ideas or you can share them. You can find your voice or you can go through life
wishing you had found it. My hope for you is that you will find the courage,
hopefully sooner than later, to write your very first word. Then add another.
And yet another. Do not be afraid of messing up or being perfect with your
words. Be patient. Keep at it. And
someone, somewhere will read it if you write it. Writing – it’s worth it!
“Either write something worth reading or do something
worth writing.”― Benjamin Franklin