What Makes a Writer?

Writers come from many different backgrounds and have many different views on how one should write. Most believe that you must revise over and over again to truly write well. Others never revise at all, saying that revision takes away from what comes naturally. I find myself revising instinctively, changing things only when it occurs to me to do so and mostly leaving things the way I wrote them. Some can only concentrate with silence; others like to have music blaring on the radio. I find it easier to write at night, usually in silence or with the radio on low. Some are night writers; others can only focus in the day. I can write in the day if I have to, but I prefer to get out a notebook and a pencil just before I go to sleep.

Writing in itself is hard work, but when you enjoy doing it, it seems easy. I find it easier to work on something I assigned myself to do than to do something that I was told to do. This is the reason why I don’t do well in English, yet have an enthusiasm for writing and reading. I’m far from professional by any means, but I do sometimes get the itch to write a story. Most of my focus has been on fictional writing, so non-fiction is something I tend to veer away from. I’m a bit afraid of it actually, since I don’t find my life all that interesting and don’t even know where to start when attempting a biography.