So you want to be a writer

People always ask me what I do, I know they aren’t interested in my laundry (I don’t like to but I “do” laundry.) or what I love to do. They want to know what I do for work, for money. Officially, I’m retired but what I do – both for work and for love, what earns me money for things like a washing machine, is write.

That answer usually gets interesting responses but the one that comes bouncing back like an incessant echo is, “Oh, I’d love to be a writer.” Often, that’s accompanied by, “I have a great idea for a book.”

I’ve finally come up with a comeback.

Anybody can write.

Now, before you throw up your hands in disgust over that statement, let me qualify it.

I don’t say anybody can write well, pen a bestseller, come up with a blockbuster that gets optioned for movie rights or anything close.

You can write a memoir, a family history, keep diary or a journal. You can write little stories for your children or grandchildren. You can come up with a set of directions about how to do something. You can review a book you read. You can write letters to the editor of your newspaper. You could even write a blog!

In my youth, among a favorite uncle told me it was acceptable to enjoy rock and roll but he taught me to appreciate classical music. He was one of the first adults to talk to me like an adult. When he was hospitalized years later, I wrote him a letter thanking him for being such a positive influence on me. He died a short time later, and when I spoke to his wife, she told me that when he read that letter, he cried, and that he told her how wonderful it was to know he’d made a lasting impression.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only person he impacted and that’s not the point.

Anybody can write.

You don’t have to write for fame and fortune but you can write for your own satisfaction, for friends or family.

So do it.