Have you ever read old letters or journals from regular people that lived before telephones, email, Internet, etc.? People with little education had beautiful handwriting and writing skills. Why? I guess because other than face to face that was the only way to communicate. And they were good at it. My grandmother didn't get out of 5th grade but was a good writer. I used to get letters from her from time to time. But if we go back a bit further into the 18th and 19th centuries there are many good examples of excellent writing skills. One of my boyhood heroes was American frontiersman Davy Crockett. Even though he had very little formal education the guy could write. Here's an excerpt of what he wrote in a journal while out on one of his exploring trips. Davy encounters a beautiful sight that causes him to launch into praise to the Creator. The writer describes it this way: "Just beyond the grove there was another expanse of treeless prairie, so rich, so beautiful, so brilliant with flowers that even Colonel Crockett, all unaccustomed to the devotional mood, reined in his horse, and gazing entranced upon the landscape, exclaimed, 'O God, what a world of beauty hast Thou made for man! And yet how poorly does he requite Thee for it! He does not even repay Thee with gratitude.' " Crockett recognized that the Creator's handiwork demands a response of gratefulness. We can also gain a lot of other insight on Crockett. He took pride in his military rank, he was familiar with the bible, (King James Version) he believed in God but he was not usually a religious man, and he could write with great detail and emotion.
I wish I could write like that. I think I do OK with my blog and my book on football ( see Chiefpigskin.com for my book) but I envy real writers. I love reading and it sometimes causes me to yearn for the ability to write a short story or novel. I simply don't possess that ability but I enjoy writing down my stories and thoughts on this site. I guess that will have to do.
