makeloveoutofwords:

psychjournalism:

Common Characteristics of Natural Born, Freelance, or Career Writers

• An “odd ball” childhood.

Writers tend to start off as peculiar kids. They never quite fit in with their classmates. Their abstract thinking begins early on, and it causes them to struggle to relate to other children and elementary interests. Future writers commonly start off as either lonesome or socially inept kids.

• They were handed books as toys.

Naturally gifted writers are almost always reading enthusiasts. They have a further developed vocabulary and stronger syntax abilities because their scholastic experience goes beyond traditional curriculum. 

• They believe in the “All or nothing” policy. 

Writers are often perfectionists that will edit until their eyes bleed or completely scratch an idea off the table. They tend to carry that trait into their other projects as well. The writer will either create something complete or nothing at all.

• They take pride in their work.

Even if they need help, writers like doing their work 100% themselves without contribution. This is seen often in college, when the self-proclaimed writers don’t show up to office hours or ask for tutoring. Writers tend to treat even essays as a personal work of art. It’s their work, and it matters that it’s only theirs.

• They are equally organized and disorganized.

A writer’s mind works in choreographed chaos. With too much chaos comes no productivity. With too much organization comes no passion. The writer has learned how to have the perfect combination of both.

• They have both an ego and self-doubt.

-Enough ego to invest in one’s own thoughts, enough doubt to revise and rethink continuously. 

• They enjoy simplicity.

Hot coffee, music, and a sunrise could make their morning flawless.

• They are observant. 

Writers tend to learn about things from as many angles as they can. They’ll see the same sign for ten years and connect ten-thousand other separate things to the sign in that amount of time. They take in what they can and make a mental map of how things co-exist. 

• They  recognize the importance of memories.

Writers learn how to utilize past moments as criteria for their work. A writer will not forget their first love, or heartache. 

true. 

I’m sorry, but some of these statements come off as incredibly pretentious and self-glorifying to me. It starts off okay, but “hot coffee, music and a sunrise” - who the hell doesn’t appreciate those things? And why are those things considered “simple”? Why is simple better than complex? How does one even research this matter? 

“They recognize the importance of memories” is probably the worst of them. I believe that, while everyone can’t put it into words, every single human being recognizes the importance of memories. Writers are just ordinary people who tend to be better at substantializing their inner thoughts and conveying them to a large crowd; a writer’s memories or thoughts are not superior to anyone else’s. In fact, if you write something that millions of people can relate to, doesn’t that mean that you’re unfathomably ordinary?

I think we should add another “fact”:

• They are pretentious twats. 

(Source: optimismforjournalism)

A quick fix before catching the bus!