Writing gets a bad rap. From the book reports you wrote as a kid to the lengthy emails you author each and every day, it's easy to see correspondence as a chore — an arduous task undertaken solely for necessity and never for pleasure.
I couldn't disagree more.
Think about all the things you read in a day. Emails, texts, websites, street signs, advertisements, newspapers. The list goes on and on. Writing is universal and ubiquitous — and so often taken for granted. When effective, it can persuade us to purchase or sway an election. When poor, it can confuse, frustrate, or even endanger us. Like notes in a measure, the beauty of our words depends entirely upon how they're arranged.
If communication is the music of the common tongue, then a writer is its composer, taming the cacophony of language and assembling it into something at once beautiful and sublime. Think about the last time you heard a catchy song. You felt it in your bones, right? Great writing should have the same effect.
I'm no Mozart. I'm not always going to nail it on the first go. Great writing takes time, and perfect copy rarely reveals itself on the first draft. However, I can promise you this. I strive for a symphony every time I pick up my pen — and refuse to accept anything less than that as a job well done.