How would you define authentic writing?

I thought today was a good time to write about authentic writing, since I am part of team that just put together a great new blog called Crimson Soapbox and which main theme is authentic writing.  But, what does authentic writing really mean?

What Is An Authentic Writer?

Is an authentic writer a book writer (an author)?  Is it a newspaper writer?  Is it an article writer?

Very few people are born writers.  For most of us, writing is a trade that had to be learned even if writing is something that you liked naturally.  An authentic writer can be any type of writer. What you write about doesn’t make you authentic but, how you write it does. Whatever you may be writing as a writer or as an author has room for authenticity.

An authentic writer is a writer who is writing truth, using his feelings, experience, knowledge and what he has learned as a writer as time went on.  In other words, a writer is a product of progress and our writing may not only improve but, even change over time.

You might have once been a debutante who evolved as an authentic writer or you might have always been an authentic writer.

My Own Experience As An Authentic Writer

To take my own example, I started writing online back in the summer of 2006.  Until then all I had ever written was poems and short stories that only members of my family ever read.  When I first started writing articles online, just the thought that anyone, anywhere in the world would be able to read my articles was exciting and scary at the same time.

My writing skill was not as sharp as it is now, five years later but, I knew one thing; if I were to write articles online I had to write something authentic.  I didn’t want to write big lies about things that I knew nothing about and I didn’t want to sell with my articles.

I started writing articles about self-development such as “color personalities”, “leadership”, “perception” and the like.  Such topics were subjects that interested me enough to make me write authentic articles that were well received by article directories as well as the readers.

As I said above, my writing skills were limited but, I was authentic in my writing.  I put my knowledge, my own thoughts and my own style into my articles which made them authentic.

Using Words To Their Full Potential For Authentic Writing

Words can be powerful tools that make a text alive, if you use them the right way.  However, if you don’t, such words might as well be a collection of meaningless syllables.

If you use the power of words to express things true to yourself or to take an objective side about a hot topic of yours or bring about your point of view, reflection or knowledge about it, those words will be your best friends to express yourself better in writing than you would ever be able to say with words coming out of your mouth.

Once a friend of mine who had just read a handful of my first online articles told me that I wrote much better than I spoke!  I didn’t take offence though; I really took this as a compliment.

The reason why a writer can write much better than he or she can speak is because writing as opposed to speaking gives you time for reflection – plenty of it – and reflection allows for more perfection.

Use this advantage when writing and you will be able to do wonders with it. Take you time, it’s your friend when you are writing.

How Can You Become An Authentic Writer?

To become an authentic writer, you need to write from the heart.  As a freelance writer, you are not always going to be able to write about topics that you love or even like, but you can always try to find a way to develop an interest and enough knowledge to be able to include your own feelings in your writing.

This is the thought process that I use as a freelance writer.  When I am faced with a theme that I am not naturally attracted to, I start developing an interest and I try to learn about the topic as much as I can to familiarize myself with it.

However, if you are completely brand new and have never written online before, I would suggest that your start writing ONLY about what you love first.  This way you will start developing a habit or a pattern of writing from the heart – writing authentic.  You will grow as an authentic writer.

If this article was helpful to you, or if you have any thoughts about it, don’t forget to leave a comment and link you own blog or post to it!