What is Real?

re·al¹

ˈrē(ə)l/

adjective

(of a substance or thing) not imitation or artificial; genuine.

"the earring was presumably real gold"

Synonyms: Genuine, authentic

I've been thinking about something for a while now--something that I think should be set straight. In a way, this post is meant for those two girls in Nelson's class all those years ago; the two girls who joined the class because they wanted to be novelists.

The art of writing a book can be learned anywhere. Most of what you learn of it is by reading, and the rest can be learned from the internet. Believe me, I've been to enough Youtube writing seminars to know. What I've learned in this class, however, is something that writers sorely need: a reason to create.

Yes, I have a thing for writing stories. It is my dream to one day write stories that will teach people about what it means to be human.

I am by no means an English lover. English class makes me cringe because they try to control everything. You can't teach people who don't care. Stop making it so obvious. They can learn all of this simply by reading, and then practicing.

But none of it will teach you how to be free, inspired and real. We as humans need real things.

We need your emotions to be real. We need to know if you're alive.

I can recite all you could possibly want to know about characterization, voice, the seven-point story structure and more, but none of it will really teach you how to write. Good writing comes from keeping things real--from speaking your mind in the most honest way possible.

And you all have taught me so much. I'm learning by reading still, but this time I'm reading something different.