TBT: 2012 Writing Contest

In 2012 I participated in and won a writing challenge sponsored by NAIWE - National Association of Independent Writers and Editors.

You had to write a series of short articles over the course of 5 days but I unfortunately can only find one of the five.

It's fun to find older stuff you've written...and really, really hard to not want to edit it!

The challenge for the particular day I wrote this was:
Writers craft words into memorable phrases, stories, poems and plays. What writers make your heart sing? Why?

Here's what I wrote for that:

Those of us in love with words all have our favorite wordsmiths; the writers who have the ability to let us see with our mind's eye and feel as if it whatever is happening is somehow happening to us personally.  We've all seen the lists of someone's favorite authors and it is almost always populated with the big guns, the rock stars of the literary world -- Twain, Austen, Hemingway, etc. -- or whomever is currently topping the best seller list.

I would be lying if I denied my appreciation for these masters but if my personal truth be told, I'm far more enamored with the lesser known writer, the young writer, the writer who sits awake night after night pounding out the words, head in the clouds, heart filled with passion. 

Recently a story was circulating on the Internet about a renowned violinist playing unrecognized in the subway.  The gist of the story was that here was this famous musician whose performances regularly sell out at $100 per seat, yet he was almost completely ignored as he played in the subway.  Had he sent out a press release and charged admission, his subway show would have been the talk of the town with everyone clamoring for a ticket. 

We are a starstruck society. 

But what are we missing as we look up to the chosen few that we decide to idolize?

In our certainty that there will never be another (insert famous author name here), I cannot even imagine the talent and potential greatness that is being overlooked. 

If authors themselves were sold in stores, I'd much rather purchase mine at the thrift shop instead of some high end, glitzy emporium where 'anybody who's anybody' shops for overpriced, mass-produced meaninglessness.  

Besides, treasures are often found at thrift shops. 

Stars, super or otherwise, are not always visible.  Sometimes it's up to us to go seek them out.