Why Write?

Since beginning writing weekly posts on this site, I have provided advice on a regular basis intended for beginning writers, but writers who nonetheless are serious about the craft and already have some reason for commitment to it. Having provided so much material for this demographic, I hope to now begin a short series exploring why writers write, the value of writing, and why it would be well worth the time of any remotely interested party to pick up a pen and begin to scribble. Today, however, I hope to specifically tackle why I write, and why I think my reasons could be applied to any person seeking creative fulfillment and development. This will be a more introspective approach to my blog for the next few weeks, but one that I think will be both of benefit to myself and readers.

I was an avid reader as a little kid, so writing naturally satisfied some deep desire within me to tell stories that would be the most interesting to me as possible. Before I learned to type, I would skip around the backyard and narrate stories out loud to myself, my first form of narrative creation. It was always so joyous for me, and that is really how I think the process should be. I always just wanted to have fun and entertain myself, something that I think is important to remember whenever I find a piece overly painful or unsatisfying to create. A story you dislike writing will not only make you feel empty, it will almost certainly not be interesting to read. This was how I at first became interesting in telling stories, but to "why write" there are far deeper answers that have been made more important to be as I have matured as an author and thinker. The times I sit down in front of a blank page on my computer or journal, I am consistently terrified. Writer's block and the initial stage of creation, and piecing together something from nothing, are perhaps the most challenging intellectual tasks I have yet to confront in my life. And the thrill to summit that mountain, to arrange a series of words from thin air of real value and meaning, is one I chase always despite by recognition of the frequent cost to reach that point. So writers can enjoy themselves, and they can test their minds, and gain a high in their successes. As a writer, or at the very least as someone who likes to scroll down a line of poetry from time to time, you also start to see the world in a very different, beautiful way than the rest of society. After all, the world, and your life, are all really just stories, at least fodder for stories, and in this respect close observation is your friend. You will find yourself more acutely aware of the artistic nature of life, of the beauty of it, and to be able to emulate that on the page will naturally prove greatly rewarding. Writing has changed my life in all these simple ways, and can have an immeasurable impact on authors, not to mention readers at the world at large. Better yet, any person with a pen and pencil may test themself in the field of the story or the poem, and experience the joy of entertaining themself with their own ideas. So some could say that there really is no excuse to not write. Why write? Try it and you will soon see for yourself. There is no harm, only reward, though know it will lie behind frustration. Go ahead, into the dark wood, and you shall see what rewards lie therein.