I have wanted to be a writer since I was twelve. I had a obsession with the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. I couldn’t get enough of Jimmy Stewart’s role of George Bailey, and I so wished there was a novel adaptation of the movie so I could delve deeper into the world of Bedford Falls. Since there was none, I wrote my own adaption.

I changed most of the names of the characters, town, and Bailey’s business from a building and loan office to a small newspaper.The final story was 80 pages or so. I was so proud of it. When I finished, I wanted all my friends to enjoy what I’d wrote.

That wasn’t meant to be. I was a homeschooler and most of my friends were also. Thing was, most of my friends were more read-up than I was. To my shame, I’d read many books, but mostly non-fictional literature for school projects. I hardly knew what a full-length piece of fiction was like. When I sent copies of the book to friends, some of their responses were encouraging — others critical. Apparently, I had a gift for the creative, but not for the communicative. My writing skills were much lower than I’d estimated.

And this was reflected in my communicative skills in other ways. I was a thinker. I didn’t talk much. I hated group conversations with friends. I wanted to speak one-on-one with people. I didn’t appreciate all manner of personalities and people’s ways to converse.

Little did I know these are often short-comings of people interested in writing. Many people interested in writing professionally don’t enjoy conforming their thoughts to the page. Most people don’t revel in grammar and vocabulary. This isn’t to say there are not writers interested in writing technique; but that there are a lot more aspiring authors that are not interested in technique than there are those that are. Ironic.

But as anyone with wisdom and some know-how could tell you, these weaknesses must be turned into strengths for writers. Communication skills are not an option. Readers can’t read the author’s intent if the telling in the written word doesn’t match the intent of the author had in mind. While there is room writers to communicate in unusual approaches to language, there are many tried and true methods authentic and serious writers should acclimate to.

So if you know that you have the writer’s itch in you, and you wanna know whether you have what it takes, take pause and ask yourself if you have the patience to learn written communication. Picture yourself reading of books. All the time. Can you read enough to learn enough to excel? You should read lots for three reasons: (1) to appreciate the written word more, (2) to learn how others communicate in text (what does and does not work for you), and (3) to find literature specifically on writing skills and learn straight from experienced professionals willing to share.

Do you think you can see yourself reading as much as you want to write? Do you see yourself giving time to it, sacrificing other cherished pastimes to read and practice writing? And then read some more?

I hope you do. I hope that active Christians will be diligent and show themselves worthy to the task of good writing. I hope noble citizens will master the pen (or keyboard). A prerequisite, however, is reading; not hard to do, but time consuming. Adopting sophisticated and fluid forms of communication isn’t easy, and I’m hoping some intelligent men and women out there live up to the challenge.

If reading is not something you think you can handle in large amounts, reconsider your goals. Do you really want to write for no earthly good? This is a challenge to myself as well; I hope you will pursue hearty readership, and set your mind on learning from what you read.