Whoever said that being a writer is easy has never undergone the blade of an editor and the frostbite of inspiration.

There is more than meets the eye when you make writing a profession. Common peeves like worrying about the rules of grammar and the express yourself principle are just two. That’s not even half of it.

I’m still a student — A mere undergraduate. And my life as a student journalist is diligence and rejection personified.

Diligence
Diligence is your earnest efforts to achieve your goal. It also means sacrificing movie marathon night to finish an article due Tuesday for your professor. From chasing people around just to get a statement, up to reading your stylebook over and over again to avoid mistakes, the situations are boundless. And the worst on my list, waking up early even if it is already a rest day.

Giving up my leisure time doesn’t feel like a sacrifice. Writing is never a chore if you’re in love with it. And when you’re in love, time flies when you spend time together.

But the waking up early part? Well, I’m working on it.

Rejection
Meanwhile, rejection is where you are lucky enough that from your 10 paragraph article, 2 are still standing tall. The rest all went down the drain.

When the editor has too much of cold blood in his veins, he will mercilessly slaughter your write-up, cutting it down, piece by piece until it gets its right shape. When you get it back, you hardly recognize it. This process, as coined by Filipino writers, the pagkakatay.

And that’s just one form of rejection. I applaud you if this is only what you got.

What if you, yourself, got rejected just because the editor thinks you couldn’t make the cut. Worse, all the editor did was just stole one glance from you and thought, “I don’t like you.”

But never fear! One editor can never dictate if you could write or not, especially if it only took one look.

Now what?
As a writer, obstacles in the form of deadlines, evil editors, difficult topics and colleagues will block your way. These may discourage you from striding towards your goal.

Your weapons aside from the mighty pen, or laptop if you prefer typing, are your willpower and optimism. Fight the battles for a better you.

Don’t curse these obstacles just yet, for they serve as your training grounds, in order to be strong, not only in your profession and skills, but as well as to develop the heart.

At the end of the day, think about the readers whose lives you have touched with your words of the news, inspiration and other whatnot. It could have made their day. Better, it already changed their lives.

This life is difficult — but indeed, fulfilling.

Aencille A. Santos, 18, Centro Escolar University - Manila, AB Journalism, Resident weirdo, http://chelli.toffeenut.org

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PS: I just submitted this at Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Youngblood column. I don’t care whether it gets published or not. All I care about is that I got to express myself. (At nagparinig na rin ako konti.)