What I Learned from Being a Writer for 7 weeks

I learned something from writing for that family magazine for about a month. This is it.

Your writing means nothing to no one when you are writing about something you don't care about.

Yep, that's it. My words get changed and warped anyway. So what does it really matter?  The quotes are re-worded to sound nicer, even if the individual didn't say what is now printed on the page. What does the word,  "ethical" mean at the end of the day? It doesn't mean fact-checking because I know that means "We just don't want to look stupid."

Those words printed in ink on that glossy paper mean something to someone. In fact it means something different to everyone.  But it also means nothing to everyone if they mean nothing to me.  I can write a great article about some company's corporation responsibility campaign, they just the "good" PR and a nice pat on the back but it doesn't mean 2 cents in the realm of understanding, if I don't care about it.  The true meaning is completely absent - it is no longer endowed in those words.  I can't infuse the words without care with  any latent meaning or something to ponder.  I simply use language like a robot. It's soul draining. 

Yeah, you might say, "Wow, this girl knows nothing. She only wrote professionally for 49 days." And you might be right. But you should know one thing... I love writing.  Writing to me, is one of the most elegant, direct, and concise ways to express one's thoughts, feelings, ideas, and aspirations.  A word holds significant power in unlimited meanings. You may read something once and understand, read it again and comprehend, read it once more and you just might feel it and empathize.

I have discovered that being an adult with ADHD does not help.  I know that I struggle to find elegance in my writing.  It is not something that comes easily for me.  I am in a constant brawl with keeping an idea simple and getting to the point. Let's just say editing is not my forte.  As long as I have an idea, I talk about it.  Circling the idea until I get so sick of seeing the same literary scenery that I just give up, click print, and hand it over.

In the end, if I can read that piece and feel the million meanings that can be understood through a million different eyes, that's all I need to be satisfied.