"People may be clever as high as the sky, but as long as he does not write, he will disappear in society and history. Writing is work to eternity."
(Pramoedya Ananta Toer)
Writing is actually a very pleasant job, especially if done with all my heart. Therefore there are also people who suggest that "write with the heart", so that the resulting writing also flows like water coming down from the cliff down the hill, smoothly without obstacles. Good writing is usually also produced by writers who write sincerely, without burden and have good knowledge.
There are also people who think writing is heavy and boring. This opinion is certainly not without reason. They are generally confused about what to write and for what writing they will make. Indeed, if people write without purpose, of course the results will be difficult and guaranteed to be tasteless and worthless. Writing must have a clear purpose, like we are talking, so don't talk as long as you talk but talk about the benefits. Writing is like that. Writing must have a clear purpose and have clear planning.
Writing will be easy to make if we already have careful planning, such as what theme will be written, the type of writing, determine the outline, style of writing, for whom the writing was made, when to finish and so on. However, good planning is also without the support of authorship and written material / resource data, the writing will encounter obstacles. What's more if the writer does not have a strong motivation in writing, so the writing that has been made can stop in the middle of the road.
One way for writing activities to run well and smoothly, we must have a strong commitment to the writing plan. Strong commitment can be created if we have motivation in writing. That is, we must have a reason why we must write. If the reason is so strong and can encourage our spirit to write, then the writing activity becomes easy and smooth.
Everyone must have different reasons for writing. This reasoning determines whether a person will become an ordinary writer or become a great writer. There are several reasons why someone wants to write, including:
Share ideas / thoughts.
Ideas / thoughts that are owned by someone if they are not written and shared with others, then the idea / thought will disappear in vain, even though it is possible that the idea / thought can help solve the problems of others, so it is useful.
Writing ideas / thoughts can also help others gain insight. The writings that are published will be read by many people so that the benefits are wider. Many media can accommodate our writing, for example on blogs, websites, social media (twitter, Facebook), newspapers, magazines, tabloids and so on. If possible ideas / thoughts can be made more deeply in book form.
Prevent and relieve stress.
Someone who likes to write can vent his feelings into writing. Feeling happy or sad can be poured into writing. Pouring writing is the same as talking to yourself. We are as if communicating with ourselves.
When we are hit by problems, writing down our feelings can reduce the burden on the chest. We can imagine if harboring a problem and there is no media to channel it, then the burden of the mind makes us stressful.
Fill in free time.
Some people are so busy working until they feel lack of time, but on the other hand there are many people who waste their time. For people who like to work and do not want to waste time with it, then writing activities can be used as a way to fill it. Many things can be written, for example writing about something that became his hobby, writing about his best friend's love story when he was a teenager, writing about his neighbors' success stories and so on.
A housewife whose daily work takes care of the house and her children, can use her free time by writing. Many housewives, aka housewives, are creative using their free time with a variety of positive activities, such as making household handicrafts from used materials that can be recycled, selling credit, selling snacks or being a writer. There is a group of mothers who have successfully used their free time by writing in Bandung, namely the group of Mrs. Doyan Nulis (IIDN), the Leaders of Indari Mastuti. They are actually ordinary housewives who like to write, so they can use their free time well and even get additional income from their positive activities.
Look for money.
The author's profession is no different from other professions, if tested I can seriously make a lot of money. Indeed, most people place writing activities just as hobbies or as additional income, but if they are truly engaged they can make lots of money and are no less interesting than other professions.
If you want to make the writing activity as the main livelihood, then a lot of things have to be done, not only just being an article writer on a blog, website or mass media, but you can develop it further. For example, you can develop yourself as Co Writer (Companion writer), Ghost Writer (Shadow writer), Biography book writer, content writer (for advertising), article writer, book writer, book editor, and so on.
Become famous.
Being famous for writing, why not? Don't you think that just by being an artist, businessman or official can make you famous, being a writer can become your famous self. So it's only natural that there are people who write with the aim of wanting to become famous people.
We can see some famous writers like Gola Gong, Andrea Hirata, Ayip Rosidi, Rosihan Anwar, Dewi Lestari, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Raditya Dika, Habiburrahman El Shirazy, Mira W., Agner Davonar, Agnes Jessica, Asma Nadia and many others . They are writers from various successful and famous generations.
As social media
If there are people who write with social goals it is understandable, because through writing we can do something for many people. Good writing can inspire people to do good. If we write and provide positive benefits for the reader, the writing can change the point of view of society for the better. Religion teaches us to do good, so through writing, we can spread the virus of goodness, for example by writing about how so that people do not act anarchistly and can respect the religion of others, respect differences of opinion and so forth.
One of the figures who pursue the world of writing for social purposes is Emha Ainun Nadjib or commonly called Cak Nun. According to the humanist who is also known as Kyai Mbeling, writing is not for a career as a writer, but for social needs.
Writing is also a means of communication.
Everyone must often communicate, of course the communication that is often done is by mouth (speaking). Communicating can also be done in a written way. Of course there are differences between communicating verbally (speaking) and verbally (through writing). Although both are communicating activities that aim to convey something to others, but writing has its own uniqueness.
If we want to convey something to others directly, we may feel ashamed or reluctant so that if the result is forced to be not in line with expectations. Communicating directly has its own constraints or obstacles, namely self-confidence, so sometimes when talking, because of nervousness and lack of confidence, the results are not in accordance with the plan, and can even be fatal.
It's different if we deliver it through writing. We can change the word for word that we arrange in such a way that it is not interesting, so that before it is conveyed to the intended person, the writing which is our thoughts can experience a number of re-readings and revisions so that the results are more maximal. When the writing is delivered, the words that are not possible change as well as when speaking directly orally. We also don't need nervesu when the material of the mind reaches the person we are headed for.
Record history.
We can be smart because we learn a lot by reading various writings, both in the form of articles in newspapers and books. We can imagine that there is no single article on this earth, and all of them only rely on memory. So when the knowledgeable person dies, the knowledge in his mind will also be carried to the grave.
Writing means recording history. Whatever we write can be a valuable lesson for future generations. Therefore, the writing that we make now can last as long as the manuscript is enshrined in the form of media such as books or it can be electronically stored on the internet. Through writing, when we are gone, we can leave something useful for future generations.
Job demands.
Not all writing goals are done with heart (sincere), but there are also people writing because they are forced to alias because of job demands. For example people who work as administrative officers, secretaries, office employees and so on. Of course not everyone who works on that part is considered to work without heart, It is true that it is done not with high enthusiasm and creativity, but merely completing obligations or responsibilities.
People with these professions, generally less creative in writing, because every day accustomed to doing routine work writing something that is standard and monotonous with official writings that already have certain styles and patterns. There is no desire and courage in him to dare to make changes because they will be considered violating the rules. Finally, the writer at this level is less developed.
Writing because of a hobby.
For people who have a particular hobby, anything will be done for this hobby. For example, there are people who like fishing, so he will be willing to spend money and travel far to just vent his hobby of fishing. Even if you think about it, the fishing results may not be comparable to the money spent. Inner power cannot be valued with money.
Well, so do people who like to write. Whatever he will do is important, he can write. Writing activity for him is a pleasure. So, he was willing to write whatever he thought was cool, without thinking whether the writing was making money or not, it was useful or not that he could write. Of course, if writing well will have a positive impact on anyone who reads it. People who write hobbies usually have a personal blog to channel their ideas / ideas in writing.
Someone who likes to write can write all the time, there is no mood or not in the dictionary of his life. For him, writing is like talking, so as long as he has lots of ideas and likes to talk, then his fingers will quickly switch the function of replacing his mouth as a medium of communication. The writer of this level is mostly used for writing, both writing fiction and nonfiction.
Let's start to write ! :)