Personal Journey Into Writing

Letter to the Editor

Personal Journey Into Writing
by Jarrius Smith

Becoming a successful writer is one of the hardest feats to accomplish these days.

That’s not because of how good you are, or you think you are. It’s because of how many other people besides yourself have the same dreams, the same desires as you. Deep down, every person that walks the face of the earth, whether they admit it or not, has a story that they want to tell the world. A story that defines who they are, what they have grown to be, and the outlook that they have moving forward in life.

The biggest obstacle that we as writers face today isn’t presenting our story. It’s finding people that are willing to listen, learn, and apply what we’ve learned and have experienced as we’ve grown. There are thousands among thousands of people who are trying to accomplish that very thing every hour, every minute, every second. It becomes a battle of us wanting to share our story versus the number of views, clicks, responses, and likes that we obtain from what we have to say.

I’ve been writing since middle school. That was in the early 2010s when I was still writing with pencil and paper. In high school, and at the very beginning of my college career, I started to take my writing seriously. That was thanks to friends and family that praised and appreciated what I had to say and how I said it. I had (and still have) words with value to bring to the table, just as we all do.

As I ventured through sites such as Wattpad and Sweek, the struggle began to find exposure, to find people who would take the time out of their day to see what I had to say. It’s not as easy as typing up a page, posting it, and getting hundreds of replies and going viral. That’s what many, including myself at many points, expected when we wrote something and posted it online. It feels so good when we put in the hard work with time, sweat, and mental exhaustion. But, it drains everything out of us when we see what maybe 1 person liked our post or responded to our words.

It hurts.

In a few years on Wattpad, I had roughly one hundred favorites on my stories in total, and I had 5 or 6 of them. It was a devastating feeling because I felt like no one really cared about what I wrote. On Sweek, I found more success because the environment was smaller and more people were engaged with each other’s writing. It was a much friendlier and tight-knit community for a long time. Many smaller writing communities will embrace one another and support each other, and it’s a great place to start and find your way.

I haven’t grown as much as I would have liked when it comes to numbers, and I’m not afraid to admit that. But, I have grown a lot as a writer, as a poet, as a storyteller because I spent more time honing my craft and finding inspiration through music and through so many other wonderful poets and writers. I even started adding visuals to my work to give it an extra pop, something that a lot of others aren’t doing. I found a unique path to take in that aspect, and you can too. My views may have been low, but my passion was high and remained high, and that led me here to Train River Poetry. Poems that I felt like I wasted my time and energy on years ago are loved and appreciated today by a great and growing and have led to me getting back the groove that I lost leading up into 2021.

Yes, I do apologize for this being a bit long and jumping around at times, but I wanted to share my journey and thoughts so far as a writer and creator to inspire you guys to keep going. The road is long, tough, and very tedious at times. However, we all have an opportunity to build and grow at our own pace.

Even if you feel like no one cares, I can assure you that with enough persistence, with enough determination, and with enough creativity, you will find that audience and you will become even more successful than you ever would have dreamed before.

From one writer to another, good luck and keep writing!

Signed,
Xaku
The Last Great Rhyming Poet