Encourage A Young Writer Day

The ability to write, effective communication and storytelling, is the backbone of personal growth and enrichment.  Intellectually speaking, writing develops analytical skills and forethought, along with providing an outlet for promoting mental and emotional health.  People who are skilled at conveying thoughts and the essence of surrounding activity, are not simply linear thinkers, but also those who can see what else is at stake.  Events in history are not isolated incidents, but usually are the result of social forces and also have a forward rippling effect, affecting society as a whole and individually.  History and literature are symbiotically intertwined.  One cannot be had without the other.  I firmly believe history gives birth to literature, and, in the fullness of time, literature produces creative forces driving history forward at breakneck speeds.  For example, the science-fiction of ages past is the modern technology of today.  (Think H.G. Wells and Jules Verne.)  Today is Encourage A Young Writer Day.  If someone is endowed with the great gift of writing, don't knock it as a non-traditional career pursuit.  It is just as valid as any other profession, especially as each person must follow his or her own passion in order to achieve ultimate joy in this life.  I should know this first-hand.  Believe it or not, people have laughed at what I wanted to accomplish in this life.  Some even mocked, "How do you expect to make any money at that?"  If it is a personal passion, and the gifts and abilities are present, chase after it with all your heart and the money will follow.  The hidden secret is, if you follow your heart and subsequent passion(s), the journey won't be all about the money.  Strange paradox, isn't it?  For all the writers who may be reading this, take courage and renewed strength in your life's calling.  Persevere against all odds.  When people say, "No!"...you say, "Yes!"  If life beats you down, rise up to the occasion.  Each and every writer has had to withstand the pressure of the prevailing winds of culture to shine the beacon of Truth and Justice.  (Think Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn.)  If you don't, who will?  If not now, when?  Lay hold of the charge given you and keep pressing forward.