I adore writing. I love words, the way they look on paper and the way they read when strategically placed alongside one another. That’s why, in part, I chose to major in English. The subject gave me a chance to hone my writing skills and to create papers and stories and articles that spoke to me and others. All of that said, my absolute favorite part of writing is something that cannot be condensed into one simple word, phrase or sentence. My favorite part of writing is everything about it—and examining those things in ways that, more often than not, I believe people forget to do.
Writing is special because of the words, the language and the way those two things come together. What’s fascinating to me is the way you can string together words, both simple and complex, and use them to create beautiful lines of thoughts, ideas, poetry, stories—the list goes on. The complexity that lies beneath something so seemingly simple cannot be overstated. College gave me the chance to write for a variety of platforms, organizations and academic outlets, which has allowed me to gain a greater understanding of the English language and what it’s capable of doing.
The fact that we can use the same words to evoke different emotions, situations and ideas is also incredible to me. Using the same general vocabulary, you can bring someone to tears as easily as you can bring them joy, give or take a few words and word placements. You can write a news article relaying something occurring in the world, or you can express what is happening in your current life. You can create a poem that takes hours to fully digest and appreciate, or you can write a short story that you can read in one sitting.
You can change the tone of your words with bolded language, or you can show more emphasis with italics. You can underline something of importance, and you can use punctuation to your advantage. The list goes on, and the possibilities are truly endless.
So long as we have words, we’ll have a way to communicate. So long as we have writing, we’ll have a chance to read and enjoy the thoughts and ideas of others—we’ll have music, poetry, books, news, hand-written cards, academics and so much more. Too often, people seem to disregard the complexity of writing. We tend to believe that writing is simple—and my favorite part of writing is that it’s not.