If there is one thing that I know to be true, it is that truths are not definitive and are based on perception. Given that fact, you could easily say that the first sentence of my essay is a lie. You could put down this piece of paper right now if you wanted, because who is to say that what I am about to describe is real at all. However, if you are somebody who knows that some truths are better off believed for the greater good, then please except this piece of wisdom I have acquired over my short fifteen years on this planet.

Writers are not born. Humans are born, writers aren’t. The written language that humans have developed is parasitic. It transforms our thoughts into lines and dashes, a doodle of human communication. It feeds off both the author and reader’s minds, planting eggs filled with new ideas.  All of our daily thoughts are unconsciously inspired by the little things we read throughout the day, and influence our motives. Today, this language leech, “bookworm” if I shall, is only growing stronger. In the Age of Mass Technology, millions are beginning to document their entire lives online, sharing their stream of thought through short passages on social media. With an emphasis on improving the literacy rates of both men and women worldwide, there is no doubt that the ability to effectively read and write has become the asphalt on the road to success.

That is where the trouble begins. To write in a language is to think in a mindset. Grammar is not used because it is “correct.” Grammar is used to sprinkle your words with the outlook of a society and what it values in communication. This is why there is no true way to translate a message as it is into another language. Especially in America, our testing systems focus so much on the use of proper grammar in English, that it unknowingly blocks out the mental capacity to learn a foreign tongue. Well, guess what America, I: have, now learned\ (that) ^studying^ proper grammar. will-not necessarily a ‘better’ writer.

Something I know to be true is that my brother and I are two very different people. I have always found the concept of writing a piece very understandable, while my younger brother struggles to piece sentences together. When you talk to my brother, you will hear that he is very logical and rather smart. His ideas however do not translate well onto paper. His frustration to memorize difficult grammatical elements has left him to give up on English as a class and focus more towards Math. What I find interesting is how he is able to understand the language of mathematics so well, while writing English proves him difficult. I have come to realize he views the English written language solely as his creative output, and that adding proper grammar would take away from his meaning.

I know to be true that to write as you were to speak creates a balance. The words on your paper were never meant to just be printed and left there, you must share them aloud with the world. To write as you speak is to silence the grammar parasite tunneling throughout your brain, and give you more the reason to believe in the truth behind the letters.