God Made the Writer

With many pardons to the late Paul Harvey…

And on the eighth day, God made the farmer to till the earth and grow crops. On the ninth day, God made the dog to be man’s best friend and a true companion. But on the tenth day, God looked down on his unlearned children and said, “They need somebody to educate and entertain them. Somebody willing to wake up, research, take notes, researcher some more, complete a rough draft, stay up past midnight checking spelling and grammar and able to bathe in the fire of the critic’s hatred.”

So, God made the writer.

God said, “I need somebody able to sit, sit some more, and sit even longer. Then with dictionary in hand, thesaurus by their side, use plain words, developing simple sentences, breaking a story without bragging, killing a story without shame, then chase down leads, take verbal abuse and who can make strong coffee. Somebody, no matter the outcome, willing to tell the truth, able to self-edit, avoid jargon and political correctness and who’ll hate the ‘red pen’ of the person who wasn’t there but is making a judgment all the same.”

So, God made the writer.

God said, “I need somebody tough enough to brave bullets, bombs and babies, fearless enough to ask the straight forward question, spending sleepless nights seeking truth and who can live off their shattered dreams. Somebody who’ll remain steady, even through periods of unemployment, who’ll look beyond the boundaries, search out new and unique ways to tell a good tale, that needs no prompting, using what they see as a guide and who’ll say, “It’s not perfect, but I’ve done my very best.”

And so, God made the writer.