It takes passion to be a good writer

As soon as you mention that you need passion, a lot of reading and a lot of writing practice, wannabe writers will vanish Photo: Courtesy

This column turns three this week. After God, my wife and daughter, it is the next best thing that I treasure the most. It excites and frightens me in equal measure.

It’s exciting when family, friends and strangers tell me that they enjoyed a particular piece. It’s frightening when some of my readers are my former teachers and professors, some of whom have put me to task for not being intellectually deep enough. Barring the occasional deluge of hate mail and insults (some insults are so well-worded, they are literary masterpieces), readers are generally positive about the column and this newspaper.