Good writing is writing that comes from the heart. I’m sure that’s been said a thousand times before and must sound just as cheesy on paper as it does in my head, but I don’t believe anything has been truer.

Good writing is too often considered to be writing that fits a purpose, writing that follows grammatical rules and regulations, writing that is built upon concrete values and structure. I have never understood this logic. Writing is a magical substance, an elixir of emotions that fits into any vial, flask, or beaker.
A noxious gas that gives an incomparable high, to both the writer and the reader. I’ve also wondered why no culture or civilization has ever prayed to the deity that is the written word. Give me a good bit of writing and I’ll swear my allegiance to pen and paper here and now.

Writing simply needs one function to be considered “good.” It need to be honest, it needs to adhere to not only its own integrity but the integrity of the writer as well. Good writing is writing that swallows pretense and etches a story, an article, an essay, a paper, a poem, a work of art that celebrates its own existence above anything else

Good writing is only created when the writer pours much more than just blood and sweat into his or her words. A little bit of soul and a lot of heart is needed to write something meaningful. To write something is to bleed with passion.

To write something that has the power to connect with the hearts of strangers. A little bit of soul, a lot of heart, these are the things needed to write something good.  If only more of us looked within rather than turning to magazines and articles for inspiration.

What other inspiration could one need? The key to good writing is knowing that such a key doesn’t exist. You have to light the fire yourself, and trust, if in no one else, in yourself and the words that leak from your fingertips.

Syed Hashmi