BORN TO WRITE - Betsy Tan, Guest blogger

Author of The Calling

Were you born to write? Do you have what it takes to be a serious writer? By this I mean, a writer who crafts her writing like an art piece, not one who just slaps words together in a meaningless way devoid of any message.

If you were born to write you would be filled with a sense of urgency, an insatiable desire to share your outlook on life or even about material things. You would have a deep passion but you put this passion on paper in a creative way, not, for instance, by using exclamation marks every two sentences.

You are so convinced that what you are writing will change some one's life path that you may agonize for days to find words with the greatest impact. This "magnificent obsession" will drive you on to get your writing published, one way or another.

Whether or not you make any profit out of it will not matter, and you would even consider self-publishing. Suddenly you realize you love those strangers who will be your readers, and are thus willing to offer up your writings as a financial sacrifice. When you have reached this stage, you will be able to say, "Money or not, I was born to write." ###

"Born to Write" was originally published in OQ: Opinari Quarterly, Issue #3_2010. Betsy Tan is a regular columnist for OQ. She lives in the northwest USA. Opinari Writers Network (OWN) is happy to show her book, The Calling, available through bookstores and on-line booksellers.

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