Being a writer is like being in a relationship -
because when a writer writes they always
find themselves creating a connection
with whatever, whomever, and wherever
they are writing about…
being a writer is like feeling as if
you want to open yourself up
to being introduced to and influenced
by people and by things that will
give you the gift of inspiration and insight
into something within you that may have been
waiting for years to be freed and shared with the world…
being a writer is like having a license
and a vehicle to express yourself in such a way
that you can use the language within you
to bring together a confluence
of the fuel of your imagination
and the natural environment of the world around you
and get to experience the immense energy
that is generated, but which is often too
intense and uncontrollable to try and contain…
being a writer is like standing in the dark
and then witnessing an explosion of light
as the sun rises over the horizon
and blesses the world with
colour, detail, beauty depth, and a perspective
that the twilight hours can only dream of
being able to show -
however at night is when a writer can feel
at their most vulnerable and their closest
to discovering the answers to
their own questions of life, the universe, people,
and why things happen the way that they do…
being a writer is like learning how to do something
that you already know how to do
but every time you do it
it feels like the first time,
and by continuing to put in the time
to expose yourself to new opportunities,
new challenges, new ideas, new ways of thinking,
as well as all the ways that have continued
to be practiced and performed to perfection
over and over again, because they feel
natural and intrinsic to the way things
are supposed to be done…
being a writer like looking in the mirror
at your own reflection -
but as well as seeing yourself
you also see and hear things, people, words,
and worlds that feel as if they need to be
seen and heard, because they feel like they are
important and meant to be
manifested in some way…
being a writer is a journey that does not end
but along the way, when you are a writer,
you might find yourself stranded -
as if you are in a boat without paddle
rushing down a river and heading towards
the drop of a waterfall;
and if you are a writer, and you think
that you have lost your sense of direction
as well as your ability to direct your course
to where you want to get to,
the key is to allow yourself to go with the flow
and dive head-first over whatever precipice
and into whatever unknown you may find yourself
upon the edge of and fly, like only you can -
because being a writer is a privilege,
because it is a blessing to be a creator, a conduit,
and a messenger of the wonderment
that can come from having a relationship
that feels effortless, meaningful, and right.
writing-tips
My Poem “The Story That Did Not Want to End”
Once upon a time, I wrote a story…
once upon a time, I thought that the story I wrote –
the first original tale I attempted to tell –
had been written and had been told…
once upon a time, I put what was once a short story
away and did not share it with anyone;
but then, one day, almost ten years
after writing my first story, I started to wonder
whether I had saved my story for a reason,
and whether there was more to my story
than even I knew there could be…
once upon a time, I wrote about two best friends
who went their separate ways
but who one day found themselves back together –
both with their own stories
of their own individual experiences –
who discover that though life has taken them both
on somewhat of a rollercoaster of emotions,
some things will never change, including:
who they are and what they mean to one another…
once upon a time, what was once a short story
was rediscovered by its author
and made the first chapter in a story
that would take its characters to places
that they could not have been taken to ten years before –
because the author had not yet seen what they had seen,
nor had they done what they had done,
and because the story could not be
what it was always meant to be.
Where does a story begin?
Where does a story end?
Every time a story is told
it always starts differently –
even if the words look the same
and sound the same,
every story changes depending upon
who is telling the story
and who is engaging with it…
when every story begins
it asks of its audience to believe
that it happened, or could happen,
exactly as they are told it did happen,
or would happen;
however, every story is always retold
as if whomever was telling the story in question
was there when everything played out
and they are confident that the story
they are sharing is true to what they heard –
even though we all know that sometimes
stories seem to take on a life of their own
and go on their own journey of translation
and reinterpretation,
like every piece of art goes through.
It’s not uncommon for the original artist
of a work of art to be forgotten,
or misremembered,
because so many reproductions and remixes
have been made by others who were
influenced and inspired by something
that they wanted to emulate the feeling of
that they had when they first encountered it…
it’s not uncommon for someone to prefer
what they saw, heard, or read, first
over what was created afterwards –
but sometimes what follows
as a result of something else
still merits to be taken notice of,
because though the first of anything
is where and when the spark of creativity will always reside,
sequels and continuations of a story
always have something to say about
why they were made and how they connect
to what they were inspired by –
and sometimes there are stories like my first story –
that took almost ten years to become
what it ultimately became –
that were begun for a reason
and were not intended to be truly “finished”,
because some characters and some tales
are stories that have had to be abandoned,
because the truth is that no story
ever wants to come to an end.
Mark The Poet 