I get these messages all the time: "I'm just starting out, give me some tips" or "I'm new at taggin teach me a style" blah blah blah...etc etc..
Firt off, its "Writing" not "taggin" and definatly not "graffin" that shits annoying as fuck to me..this artform has been around for over 30 years now and the terminology is well established. Show the pioneers a little respect by doing a little research on the artform you so desperatly want to become a part of.
You can't learn to write on the internet, at least not to the extent that will earn you any type of respect and thats just the way it is..
Here's a story I heard many years ago that I have carried with me ever since. I think a lot of kids can learn from it and understand it. Its not word for word just the basic story that I can remember in my head.
The Burning Desire to Learn
Thousands of years ago in ancient China, there was a young boy who after first hand witnessing the skill of the monks of the Shaolin Temple, was desperate to learn the then closely guarded and secret skills of Kung Fu.
The young boy gathered all his belongings and sat at the entrance of Shaolin the temple. For the first two weeks the boy was ignored by the monks as he sat at the entance of the temple. On the third week the Oldest monk was entering the temple and he asked the boy, "Why are you sitting at the entrance to my temple boy?" The boy replied, "Master, I am here to learn the Secrets art of Gung Fu and to become a Shaolin monk such as yourself." The old monk simply grunted, walked away and continued to ignore the boy. Two more weeks had passed and the boy was becomming impatient. As the Monk was returning to the temple with two buckets of water from the well. The boy jumped in front of the monk's path, kneeled and bowed his head. "Master, what must I do to enter the temple? "You must teach me." "I must teach you?" the monk laughed..."First you must possess a burning desire to learn in order to prove yourself worthy of such an honor." The monk kicked the confused boy out of the way and quickly made his way back to the temple with the two buckets of water.
A week later the old monk was again returning to the temple from the well with his buckets of water. Once again the boy foolishly stepped into the path of the monk and pleaded, "Master you must train me to become a Shaolin Monk." "What is this Burning Desire to Learn you speak of?" At this point the old monk was beccoming a little annoyed with the boy. A swift kick to the back of the head knocked the boy out of the monks path and he continued to walk towards the temple. The foolish boy got in the monks way once again pleading, "Please master, what is this Buning Desire you speak of?" The Monk set down the buckets of water, grabbed the boy by the hair and plunged his head into one of the buckets of water. The boy struggled to free himself as the monk's palm of iron steadily held his head under the water. Just as the boy was begining to loose conciousness the monk pulled his head from the bucket. No sooner than the boy had gasped for air did the monk slam his head into the other bucket of water. The boy's lungs burned and he began to panic, but the iron srenghth of the hand held him under. The boy felt his world begin to blacken as the thoughts and feelings of sure death crept over him as he struggled in vain to free himself from the monk's grasp.
Just as the boy felt himself slipping away, the monk withdrew his head from the bucket and tossed the boy to the side. "Master, Why" asked the frightened boy, as he gasped, coughing up water at the same time. The monk replied, "What did you feel when your head was in the bucket boy?" "I wanted to breathe master, I thought I was going to die!" "You had a burning desire to breathe" said the monk. "It is this same burning desire you must possess in order to become my student, The Burning Desire to Learn.....
-Author Unknown
Was the boy ever granted admittance to the temple? eventually, yes, but not until after he had paid many many dues and had proven himself. You see, the same applies to the graff game...There has to be filters in effect and there must be dues to be paid in order to keep this shit special and to ensure that the styles of the masters are only passed down to those that are worthy..True respect for the pioneers demands that their styles be treated with such respect. Be Thankfull for this art that they created that we today enjoy..And if you have this Burning Desire to Learn, you will find a way, make a way to teach yourself..and after paying dues, perhaps an old timer will see something in you, take you under his wing and decide to teach you a little something....
There, got that all out...Zone (getting off my high horse....)