If I could steal a couple of minutes to muse on about my experience with writing, it still baffles me when people utter anything along the lines of “writing is hard.” And, simply put, the reason for my mild amazement is that it really isn’t once it’s made clear exactly why and how people write. I assure to anyone reading this who doesn’t necessarily identify as a writerly type that this sort of method (more of an ideology, really) is effective from my experience. Now, I’m sure that those same folks have plenty to say and dismiss so allow me to try and address those thoughts.

I was brought up in a rather old-fashioned household meaning that a kid—particularly, the eldest among siblings—was strictly a subordinate and, thus, an extended representative of my family’s breadwinner rather than an individual with their own voice. I’m a second-generation Filipino-American, son of US naval officer, and unwillingly grew up quick due to more than my share of family drama. Those who I consider my dearest friends today aren’t childhood friends due to changing residence early in my life. I’ve defeated dark parts of myself to know now that not even I can perish by my own hand. I’ve made my own mistakes and learned from them—you know how the cliché goes.

So, needless to say, I was writing at a young age up until now just to get by. Whether it be just to vent during an awkward and edgy portion of my life or for a college degree, yes, I am aware that I’ve been doing this a while. I would hope that after having the privilege to continue down this path of trying to be a writer, having lived through what I’ve lived through, things would get easier. But that’s not to say that trauma or a college degree is required to inspire genuine and engaging writing. Writing, from my experience, is but a lifelong tool for perpetual processing. It’s important that I share this sentiment that life can be unfair and writing can be a great equalizer to restore balance in many ways.

Like I mentioned before, my family and I moved around a lot due being a part of a military lifestyle so making friends was always a bit of a challenge. Being friendly with most kids everywhere I went was no issue, it was always the meaningful tethering between confidants being a difficult matter to handle. So, when I wasn’t making awkward small talk with kind and underpaid middle school teachers during lunch, writing became my crutch (or excuse depending on how I’m coming off to readers right now) to keep myself from being absolutely lonely in my head. When nobody wanted to listen to me back home, I couldn’t just lock myself in a bathroom and spend an hour a day talking back to my reflection without raising suspicions about my sanity—so I opted to take to blank sheets of lined paper so as to alleviate anxieties of getting sent to a psychiatric ward because I knew that nobody in my house reads. Alongside being a tool for reflection and processing, writing can also be a tool in that the mute can speak clearly and precisely.

Some folks might argue that they don’t need to write for whatever reason. Well, choosing to neglect physical fitness and taping minnows to broken machines to avoid awkward repair requests in public are also choices to make in life but that doesn’t make those options particularly smart or practical, does it?

Writing isn’t simply bound to the act of typing or scrawling scripts across parchment. “Good” writing, I believe, is simply a byproduct of dedication to a craft combined with rich self-awareness and critical thought—something incredibly lacking especially in online spaces. If I were to get a bit philosophical and redefine the concept of writing, it is to exercise concentrated analysis and argumentation in an artful manner. It is an understated, underrated, and underutilized skill that I highly encourage naysayers to improve sooner than later just because it’s an everyday affair.

“Well, I don’t really care for writing,” some may retort. Well, respectfully, that statement reminds me of the opinion that “The customer is always right” in that it’s wrong. Whether you like/realize it or not, unless you spend your days struggling to photosynthesize for better skin in front of flat screens, most people do care about writing. Do you watch movies? Do you watch TV? Do you play video games? Do you watch/read the news? Do you like going to places with names? Do you like trying new recipes you found online? Do you like fortune cookies? Do you enjoy memes? Writing encompasses damn near everything that we consume on a daily basis and we overlook that simple fact. In most cases, writing is the vanguard, the great determinant, of whether or not you have a good time (e.g., living after stopping at a visible stop sign) or a bad time (e.g., living through both the last three Star Wars films and the final season of Game of Thrones) in any given situation.

With all of that said, I hope that by sharing my perspective on how I look at writing as a whole was… something to say the least. Of course, there are many aspects of writing that ought to be considered as well but I only hope that I said something that encouraged non-writers to at least try and make writing a daily part in their life. Because remember: you don’t have to rock with dark academia or cottage-core aesthetics to pick up a pen and a pad (he said whilst wearing fresh-ass pair of Fila MBs). Anyone can write because it isn’t hard when you understand what it can be used for and how your life is affected by it on a daily basis. From there, life simply becomes more interesting for many reasons.

How Do I Make You Love Me? The Weeknd The Method by Tyrone B.

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