I thought it fitting that I start this blog with an explanation. The book A Year of Writing Dangerously is full of inspiration for writers and ends with a list of 52 writer’s prompts – one for each week of the year. Number 12 asks to write about why we want to write.
My Response:
I want to write because I want to create. I want control. I want to be okay with losing control.
I want to write because I want to escape. I want to explore. I want to imagine.
I want to write because I want to have deep relationship without risk. I want to know and be known, even if I have to fake it through characters.
I want to write because I want to be heard. I want to write because I want you to see me. I want to write because I don’t want to be me.
I want to write because I want to read. I want to understand Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Gertrude Stein, and Neil Gaiman. I want to write because I want to learn. I want to be a lifelong student, no really.
I want to write because I want to teach. I want to write because I want to think. I want to write because I want to feel.
I want to write because I want to be a part of something bigger. I want to be someone of lasting significance, if only to one person.
I want to write because I have a story. I want to write because I have many stories no one else will have, and all must be told. I want to write because I want to work with words and talking doesn’t work so well.
I want to write because I want an explanation for my quirks. I want to write because I want to have a reason for the pain. I want to write because I want to say, “I told you so.”
I want to write because I hate routine. I want to write because I want to live.
Your Response:
If you’re a writer, why do you write? If you’re a reader, why do you read? If you’re neither, why do you do what you do? Comment below to join the conversation.
Great thoughts and reasons for writing. I think I write to be known as well and to reflect the truth and beauty I see in the world
That’s a good one. It’s so great to share the world thru writing!
I think I write to feel.
Ooh, that’s so true! Emotions are so wrapped up in the words and uncovered from wherever they hide inside us.
I write because God inspires me to write.
Predestined to write haha
I write because I must. The words inside me will make my brain explode if I don’t let them out! I’ve stopped writing for periods of time but always go back to it.
It’s amazing how the words just build up if we don’t write.
Reading and writing are my main sources of therapy. I have an anxiety disorder, but I’m able to manage it successfully because of the peace and calm that reading and writing brings to me. I love blogging because it’s the perfect outlet (That is, until I publish my four novels, haha).
Yes, reading and writing greatly help with my anxiety as well. A way to channel the emotions into something outside of my life, I guess. And blogging is a great way to more consistently interact with the world since novels take a lil while to get out and about 😉 haha.
P.S. Four novels, you’ve got a backlog to get out there it sounds like!
If I had to choose one (and only one) all encompassing reason ‘why I write’ – it would have to be because it is SO FRIGGIN FUN. Like just the thought of sitting down and typing up a story makes me excited 🙂 If I wasn’t at work right now I think that’s what I’d be doing!
Fun is a good top reason to choose!