So. Why DO you write? For me, it is because I can't not. I swear, cut me and I bleed ink. It is my way of interpreting the world around me, of quieting my mind and of keeping sane. I cannot remember a time when I didn't write. It is as important to me as waking up in the morning, as necessary as my heartbeat and as automatic as breathing. It is who I am and what I do. There is a space deep within, a fathomless space of no boundaries, a well of unsprung thoughts that exists inside each of us. I write to pull forth the words; grasp them and pull them, sometimes screaming, sometimes dancing, from deep within and set them, fleeting, upon the page. This, this is why I write, because if I didn't, then I shouldn't be alive at all.Every aspect of the writing process fascinates me. I love the joy of discovering where a story or poem will take me (I give it its head and go along for the ride!)every bit as much as the revision/polish/cut/redo/ rewrite/ manipulate/strangle/cry/tear out my hair/do it again process which follows.
Part of being a writer is the reading of other's work here and elsewhere: Absorbing their words, appreciating and learning from their efforts. One of the best things about WDC is finding and reading the talent that exists on this site and sometimes, getting to know them as both writer and person. To be considered a mentor by another writer is both exhilarating and humbling.
Kayla Sullivan says:I write because my hands are obsessed with words. I write because I breathe, and the two actions are tied. I inhale thought and emotion, my hands exhale letters that come to life, then deaden my pain. I write because I am a "writing-type" others are music-types, or theatre-types, or sports types, but I am of the writing-type. It is what I do. It is what I am. My fingers are an extension of my heart. If I am not a writer, then John Wayne was not a cowboy.
Hannah ♫♥♫ says: Writing is more than just a hobby for me; it's a way to release pent up emotions. Whether I'm writing about real-life events, or conveying them through fictional characters or expressive poetry, it seems to have a calming effect, a cleansing of the mind .
Thomas says: So the answer to the question, "Why do I write", is more than just "because I want to", rather, it is "because I refuse to let any obstacle stand between me and my dreams."
Solitary Man says: I write to soothe the savage beast, to give voice to my demons, to make it so the good guy doesn't always win, the hero doesn't always get the girl, to show that not everything is black and white- there are greys and not everyone lives to see the sunrise. I write as a catharsis for the pain in my life, past and present. I write to make you cry, to make you hate, to make you feel. Good, bad or indifferent.
turtlemoon-dohi says: When I pick up a brush to paint a watercolor scene, I am telling a visual story. My pen paints a word story in much the same way. My writing poetry and my painting watercolor stories are extensions of each other. This creative journey , my journey, completes a circle of emotion in motion, an image in imagination, and of course, ecstasy in the fantasy.What a trip!!!!!!!
Tadpole1 says:I write for several reasons. I wrote my first book because I wanted to leave something tangible behind me for my children like the quilt my grandmother left me. Then, I wrote the two following books of the trilogy because I was having fun. Now, I am writing about a subject that interests me, nanotechnology, interweaving it into a speculative fiction.
auric says: I write to express myself, whether it's using a poem to portray how I feel about a life experience or if I have a story in my head that I need to tell. I love words and how they can be used together, like Lego bricks or a palette of paint, to create wonderful things.
So. Why do you write?
Perhaps, for me, it is because I am about to celebrate six years here at WDC, that the reasoning behind the 'why' of writing is front and center in my thoughts today. Perhaps it is because The Quill Awards made it important to me that we writers share something incredible. Regardless, writing is who and what I am, and will be, as I evolve. Give yourselves a pat on the back!! We are part of a most excellent group of people! |