“I am participating in the Writing Contest: You Are Enough, hosted by Positive Writer.” (http://positivewriter.com/writing-contest-you-are-enough/) Portions of this blog were posted originally on my site in GoodReads.
All it really takes to be a writer is to physically set words down on paper or type them into a computer. It's called self-confidence, and I think the most important tool in a writer's toolbox. Whether you have a story to tell that just needs to be shared, or something occurred to make you want to write an article for the local newspaper, or you simply want to put your family memories and/or history into a collection of family stories. You must believe you can do it.
Just grab that pen and paper and begin to set that thought lodged in your brain down in a concrete form. Move it from your brain to that paper. If you're old enough to remember drawing water from an old-fashioned pump, you might remember how you needed to pour a bit of water into the pump before it would draw from the deep. Writing's the same thing. Setting words on paper or computer triggers more words. You just keep on writing as they come.
Writing, like all of life's skills, needs to be learned. Just as a baby needs to crawl before it walks, a good writer recognizes his weaknesses and works to master them. Push yourself to improve. Take some writing courses, read a half-dozen books about writing, attend some writers' workshops and conferences. There's nothing like finding yourself among like-minded folks to boost your confidence and dissolve those I-can't-do-it feelings.
Writing, like life itself, is a continuous journey of self-improvement. As long as you're still lucid, you're not too young or too old to begin writing. Writing exercises the mind just like swimming or walking exercises the body, and that can be just as vital to one's health.