Your Cup of Cake

Easy Dessert Recipes

I learned to write when I was 17

Blogging 101, The Sweet Life • • 70 Comments

Lizzy Early

I learned to write when I was 17.

I hated writing papers in high school.  I felt like there was no way to win, the teacher just graded it how they wanted to.  It’s not like math where there’s a right and a wrong answer—it’s personalized and biased.  It never seemed fair.  I always got my A in the class thanks to tests and other assignments so I didn’t mind too much.  But when college application essays came around I wanted to do it right.  I wanted to show the admissions board who I really was and the only way to do that was through an essay.

But I didn’t know how to write.

Mr. Dickinson was the new Senior English teacher at school, but I had another teacher and never met Mr. Dickinson.  Everyone was saying he was impossibly amazing in every way so I thought I’d take a chance and wander down the hall to see him.

Even now I remember feeling so ridiculous.  What was I going to do? Walk up to him and be like “Hey, teach me how to write… please.” What 17-year-old kid does that? Me, I guess.

I walked into his room and said “You don’t know me but—“

“Lizzy, right?” He cut me off.  “ASB? Makes the cookies and muffins?”

“Yeah.  That’s me.” I guess that’s what happens when you go to a small school and shove every last extra curricular into your schedule and show up with baked goods every day for 2 years.  But I was still shocked he knew my name since he’d only been here a few weeks.

“What can I do for you?” He asked.

“I’m trying to write my college essay and I’m a terrible writer…” I trailed off into murmurings because I still couldn’t believe I was doing this.

Without hesitation and with a strange sense of confidence he said, “Hold on.” He got up from his desk and looked through the piles of books on his shelf.  He pulled out one with a bookmark and handed it to me.  “Read this.”

I read.

And everything changed.

It was a poem by Charles Bukowski.  Every time I sit down to write a letter, a story, a note, anything that means anything, the lines of that poem roll through my head.

I was a senior in high school.  I’ve had writing classes since Kindergarten, learned grammar, spelling, formatting, all the other basics and always got A’s in the end.  But no one taught me until that moment how to really write.  Yeah, I could string words together on the page, I could identify the nouns and adjectives but I didn’t know how to make an impact with any of it.  It took a man who wasn’t even my teacher, a man I never would have met unless I had sought him out that day to teach me this lesson that changed everything.  Now of course, I thank Mr. Bukowski as well for his words he put to paper, but Mr. Dickinson was the messenger.  He’s the one who put the poem in the my hands and told me to read.

Am I a perfect writer? No.  Does everyone love my writing style? No way.  But I do have a voice now, and that’s all that really matters.  Because without a voice behind the words, it’s just black and white marks on the screen and we all want to be more than that.

—

“so you want to be a writer?” By Charles Bukowski

if it doesn’t come bursting out of you

in spite of everything,

don’t do it.

unless it comes unasked out of your

heart and your mind and your mouth

and your gut,

don’t do it.

if you have to sit for hours

staring at your computer screen

or hunched over your

typewriter

searching for words,

don’t do it.

if you’re doing it for money or

fame,

don’t do it.

if you’re doing it because you want

women in your bed,

don’t do it.

if you have to sit there and

rewrite it again and again,

don’t do it.

if it’s hard work just thinking about doing it,

don’t do it.

if you’re trying to write like somebody

else,

forget about it.

 

if you have to wait for it to roar out of

you,

then wait patiently.

if it never does roar out of you,

do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife

or your girlfriend or your boyfriend

or your parents or to anybody at all,

you’re not ready.

 

don’t be like so many writers,

don’t be like so many thousands of

people who call themselves writers,

don’t be dull and boring and

pretentious, don’t be consumed with self-

love.

the libraries of the world have

yawned themselves to

sleep

over your kind.

don’t add to that.

don’t do it.

unless it comes out of

your soul like a rocket,

unless being still would

drive you to madness or

suicide or murder,

don’t do it.

unless the sun inside you is

burning your gut,

don’t do it.

 

when it is truly time,

and if you have been chosen,

it will do it by

itself and it will keep on doing it

until you die or it dies in

you.

there is no other way. 

and there never was.

So you want to be a writer

Share10
Pin73
Yum
Tweet
83 Shares

Reader Interactions

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comments

  1. Ashton says

    Seriously such a great post Lizzy! And I’m so glad you shared this poem. Writing is seriously the hardest part of blogging for me, and this is the perfect reminder of how it should really be done 🙂

    Reply

  2. Karissa @ Sweet as a Cookie says

    I seriously love this so much. I have about 10 recipe posts photographed and ready to share with the world but I never know what to say. It’s the only part of blogging I feel like I really struggle with. Thank you for sharing this 🙂

    Reply

  3. Julia MacMonagle says

    Lizzy, I’m printing this and sticking it on my board. Roaring out of your soul like a rocket–sometimes it feels just like that. Your part about not everyone liking your writing–but that the most important part is that you now have a voice…sigh. YES YES YES! It’s THE thing isn’t it? Speak your heart and you’ll never go wrong. I found your site after I wrote this post and then had to laugh when I read your “about” page. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one baking cupcakes with ulterior motives 😉 Your are a welcome addition to my blog list! http://www.thewhitehorsewhispers.blogspot.com/2014/01/hithere.html

    Reply

  4. Mary says

    I really loved this Lizzy – thanks for sharing. I’ve been told by many that I should write a book about my life. It would definitely be about hope and belief after losing two teenage sons and fighting breast cancer. I read this poem, a few times, and I know I am not ready. I’m going to print it and keep it in my desk drawer to remind me when and if it’s time. Mary

    Reply

  5. Janis Munroe says

    I love that so much. I wanted to be a writer since I was a kid. I even took a course once but to see my words, critisized in red, hurt too much. I thought that I didn’t have what it took if I couldn’t be corrected without being in pain. I stopped writing. But every once in a while, something would burst forth and demand to be written down. I have always obeyed that. My husband races cars and in my passion for him and the sport, I began to write about our division of racing. People would tell me they loved the articles because “who else in racing talks about what they had at the BBQ after the race” etc. The stories tell themselves, the boring details were included at the end. The hard facts and details and who finished where, but the story of the night, THAT is what needed to be told. As time went by and things grew, it became a DEMAND to write, publicize, market etc. I couldn’t do it anymore.

    Writing for me has always had to come from my heart or soul. It cannot be demanded or required or I shut down and can come up with nothing.

    What you wrote today, is the first time I felt like anyone GOT IT. Thank you for that. Carry on, burst forth and we will be here to read it. Jan

    Reply

  6. Nicole says

    I’ve been reading your blog for a while and I’ve never commented here before. I just wanted to say thank you. I needed to read this.

    Reply

  10. Patty O says

    You have written an EXCELLENT blog post! Thank you so much for sharing Mr. Bukowski’s poem!

    I’ve been told I need a writing class….Hrmph….we’ll see. Maybe someday. But in the meantime I say my way of writing is “conversational”. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

    Reply

  11. Katy O. says

    Lady,

    Thank you so much for taking the time to write this all out. You are a true inspiration <3

    Much love to you,

    Katy O.

    Reply

  12. Aiza says

    I had never come across Bukowski’s this poem and now I’m going to print it and paste it on my wall. Infinitely helpful and beautiful. Thank you so much for writing this.

    Reply

  17. Kolkata friendship club says

    A lot of adult friends are missing you. Escobook has many varieties of sexy female ladies, and they look to hire you in Kolkata. Just visit our website and communicate with them for friendship. If you satisfy them and fulfill their wishes, then they are offering that you cant imagine.
    How to join the Kolkata friendship club and attend hi-profile clintes?
    1. Just visit our website
    2. Contact our customer care
    3. open an account using your details
    4. After approval by our team, attend a meeting with our clients.

    The Kolkata seems to be facing lots of challenges every day due to coronavirus, and for that, we are here to help you to pass your time in lockdown. Millions of looking for friendship in Kolkata, they need some relaxation and sexual satisfaction in lockdown. So if you are feeling dull, feel free to contact us.

    Reply

    • Linda says

      Studying and studying. It is really important to study well. I am currently studying Japanese at college and sometimes I face with the problem concerning translation. Sometimes I am using https://isaccurate.com/japanese-translation-services in order to order special translation because it seems to be really hard for me. This service is doing everything really fast and on time, that is really important for me.

      Reply

  20. Kelly says

    I hated writing papers in high school, too. I thought it was impossible to win, the teacher just put grades the way they wanted. Reviews of various essay writing services, like this one https://getpsychologyessay.com/ provided as part of the essay help, were helpful to me and guided me toward getting the best writing services available.

    Reply

  21. Teenasharma says

    Green Park escorts deliver a decent portion of the escorts industry and give services cheaply and cheap. Green Park escort is just one of the fastest industry that provides guards and touch base with companions in a brief period. These women supply excellent escort service business in Green Park. From the Green Park escort support group, you will find an assortment of professional call women available to provide escort services.

    Reply

  22. David says

    I got motivated to read your post but to do writing is very tough and we need skills to do this. I also love to do writing but for this, your vocabulary should be strong and my vocab is not a good friend. Do you know any good writing service? Please help me out of this.

    Reply

  23. Alan Lee says

    Nice to see you here! I fully agree with every word of this topic! At present days students should buy their essays to get high marks without unnecessary pressure and efforts. If you’ll choose this writing web agency to order essay online (you can also read an article about “USING FOOD AS A WAY OF LURING CHILDREN TO EDUCATION CENTERS” wright here), then your tasks would be written by first-rate professional author and with the lowest price. At the end of the result you will get high A+ grade!!!

    Reply

  24. meinewetten24 says

    Unser Testbericht garantiert Ihnen ein echtes Erlebnis mit allen neuen Buchmachern des Jahres 2021. Wir haben alle Buchmacher getestet, bevor wir uns entschieden haben, diese Bewertung zu schreiben! Die grundsätzlichen Bewertungskriterien ähneln denen einiger unserer Mitbewerber, aber das deutliche Plus an Authentizität und echter Initiative, das Sie von uns bekommen, finden Sie nirgendwo sonst im Internet.

    Reply

  25. Brian Skinner says

    Hi. If you need quality translation work, then refer to https://www.etxt.biz/translating/. ETXT Content Translation Service is available to everyone who wants to receive quality materials. This service is excellent even for communication between people from different countries without the knowledge of languages.

    Reply

    • harryjordan says

      As my 18th year of life dawns on me, I feel a lot of things. Some are good, some are bad. If you know me, you know I talk about them all the time. But I’ve never put it all down in , copywriting listing . I’ve never looked for the collective good that 17 years has done me and what I’ve learned along the way.

      Reply

  37. elitekarachigirls says

    Our top rated independent Karachi call girls set a new standard for everyone. We are happy to announce that our call girls are awarded the best in all over Karachi. Come to us if you are looking for high profile independent female escorts in Karachi at very cheap rates.

    Reply

  38. eliteislamabadgirls says

    Genuine independent call girls are available at all locations in Islamabad. Our Islamabad escorts are down to earth, they know how to treat people like Prince. It doesn’t matter where you are in Islamabad. Now we are providing call and out call services in the whole Islamabad city.

    Reply

  42. Unicorn Coloring Pages PDF says

    Thanks for sharing such information – please look
    Unicorn Coloring Pages PDF feature unicorns which are mythical creatures often depicted as horses with horns. These coloring pages are typically used by kids to spend their leisure time in a productive way. After a long day, adults may find that coloring is a wonderful way to relax and reduce stress. It can aid in easing anxious feelings and encourage rest, mindfulness, and creativity.

    Reply

  44. CPS Test says

    Thanks for sharing such information – please look
    CPS Test is a critical component of many e-sports competitions, particularly those that involve first-person shooters and other fast-paced games. Players who can click their mouse button the fastest and most accurately have a distinct advantage over their opponents, and often come out on top in high-stakes matches.

    Reply
Never miss a recipe! Sign-up for email updates!
83 Shares
Share10
Pin73
Yum
Tweet