"Am I doing It Right?"

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Being a blogger, reviewer, or any kind of writer can make your life colorful in the most wonderful ways.

The ups and down are still there, as expected. Awful slumps, the days where you just run out of ideas, negativity, and life in general.


There are occasions when I just over-analyze some of my reviews and the one horrible thought crosses my mind. Do I even get to call myself a reviewer? - and poof! - goes the motivation.  I just pull up a blank document, collect all my jumbled up thoughts and dump them on it, throw in some GIFs for good measure and hope the final product is a review.

I know many of you think like this.

I am no wizard, or even someone with much experience. But I've come to realize that the answer is no, there isn't any 'right' way. 

Your writing style is as unique as your personality. The right way is doing what you do the way you feel portrays who you are as an individual. It will be the voice through which people recognize you. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it should come from YOUR mind. 

If that means your writing is more formal, then be it. If it means that your writing is laced with humor, then be it. And if you're more of a fickle-minded person like me and your writing style changes according to your mood, then be it.

If anyone bashes you  and tells you "you're writing in the wrong manner," I say steal all their cookies. It's a completely different story if you give them a reason to talk bad about you. If you're rude, that's how it is and you should probably take advice from people.

Otherwise? Goodbye them back to hell.

If you're a writer, other people will judge your work. Reviewers will analyze it, people will give feedback. But these are their opinions, and ultimately, the nutrients your writing needs. It is also a very different thing from criticizing someone for the purpose of making them feel low.

Some people think it's unfair to review a book if you're not a 'professional' writer.

I digress.

When I started writing, my English was just horrible, and it being my second language didn't help anything. I remember when I posted one of my 'poems' on Tumblr and I made an embarrassing typo and got comments like, "You lost me at that typo". I was embarrassed because I thought it really was the correct spelling. I'm pretty sure I haven't made that mistake again, so thank you, random citizen.

When I got round to reviewing, my writing continued to suck, and I'm pretty sure I made 101 typos per review. Now? My writing is still a bit raw around the edges, and I still make 101 typos per review. Just that they are a little less obvious. (Or so I hope).

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is always space to improve. Many things can make changes to your style of writing throughout your journey and in the end your writing maybe completely different from when you started out. But it's when you take a look at the before's and after's that you see a lot of embarrassing mistakes and realize how much better you are at this now.

You should never feel obligated to write according to someone else's style. Embrace your writing style, create beautiful things words however you like, let your personality bleed through, and just flaunt it all.

And in the figurative sense? There is no right or wrong writing style.

Just felt a bit philosophical today and thought I'd share this.
Now, forget me. Tell me about yourself.
Maybe even take a walk down the memory lane.