March. A month when spring begins, days get longer and sunnier, and things just seem good. Luckily, those good things even found their way into the March issue of Teen Ink. Poems, fiction stories, video game reviews; the magazine was filled with great pieces. But one I want to focus on is “You Are a Writer If …” submitted by Claire ­McCulley. What is so good about this piece was not its humorous tone or awkward structure (sentence-long paragraphs), but the extreme sense of connection I felt with her points. To be honest, it shocked me that I could relate so much.
McCulley put into (or should I say onto) paper her idea of all the things that prove one is a writer, hence the title. But it wasn’t just saying, “You’re a writer when you enjoy picking up a pencil.” No, McCulley took the idea of writers’ similarities and characteristics, and broadened it, describing in detail all the little things that a true writer would admit doing. It was these things that created an almost eerie sense of connection between me and her article.
To name a few examples that resinated with me: “Analyze the behavior of [people] on a daily basis for character material,” “The voice in your head says two things, ‘You call that writing!’ and, ‘You call that writing?’’’ and one last, very important one that I simply agreed with, “You are yourself in all your glory.” When I read it, I felt the urge to scream out in my class, “YES!”
But it wasn’t just those examples, the whole article seemed to be asking me, “You do this on a daily basis, right?” And that was what was so good: it was so creepily relatable.
It truly showed me what it is to be a writer. Not just a secluded weirdo (which some might say), but a well-oiled yet quiet word-creating machine. So I thank Claire for making my March start off on the right fot – darn, I mean foot. Can’t have a typo in there, can we?