I got a great comment on a recent post that I'd like to respond to.
If you have the logical mind and work ethic to make this site, you can write well. It just takes the committment to do so, and the guts to be both self-critical enough to edit yourself, and self-permissive enough to hit the Post button when more editing would only be getting in the way of the topic.
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The universal truths of our lives are most evident at the macro and micro ends of the scale.
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"Ships are safe in the harbor, but that is not why ships are built."
You built this boat, time to sail her"
First, I'd like to thank phaTTboi for a well written comment. But here's the thing, when I say I'm not a writer, I say it with no regret. Writing, as phaTTboi pointed out, requires work ethic. I don't have that. Not when it comes to writing. There are things I have done that I had no interest in, but that I needed to do. I've waited tables, made fried chicken, janitored, worked in warehouses, and other things that ranged from interesting (Chicago carriage driver) to just plain awful (concrete plant with klansmen). But none of these things were things I thought, for even a moment, I would make a lasting part of my life.
Then there are the things that I do, because I want to do them. Pay or no pay. This is what theatre is to me (By the way in my world theatre is the art and craft, theater is the building.) I will always do theatre. If it is, one day, not my profession, it will always be my vocation. I love photography. And I love building web pages, crazy as that may be.
Then there's the things I've tried, that interest me, but I know that I will not pursue. Acting, painting... and writing. These things take lots of hard work to do well. I think I could do it if I put forth the effort needed. But that's the thing. To me, the reward is not in proportion to the work. Never when I was acting would I feel as content at the end of a show as I do when I watch the opening from the house and know I put the lights up. Seeing a painting come together doesn't excite me the way coding a page does. And I've seen good writing. I love good writing, but my writing isn't great, and I don't care enough about how great my writing is to put forth the effort to make it great. I know that. It's not where my passion lies. I believe [my brother] can be a great writer, and he wants to be a great writer. So I encourage him to write. He can write while I code and waste film.
I'm exceptionally lucky in that one of my passions is also my profession. I hope that remains true throughout my life. If I get one good picture out of a roll of film, I'm happy. When a show goes up and I get that momentary thrill, it makes the weeks of pain that it takes to get there seem insignificant. My writing will never be that way to me... and I don't mind. I'll keep writing, but I'll never be a writer. But I'll never be a chicken, and that doesn't bother me either.
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