Most people don’t like to write. The thought of sitting in front of a computer, pounding away at the keyboard for hours on end doesn’t translate to “exciting” for the average person. Hell, there are even some days when I think writing is overrated, but I keep at it anyway.
The question of course, is why?
Why write when you could go out and enjoy the sun? Why torment yourself over finding the right word, over ending the next scene over editing and editing and editing until your eyes bleed and you can quote from your book BY PAGE NUMBER?
Why?
There isn’t a simple answer, but I’ll tell you why I do it. Five reasons. Here we go.
- On MOST days, I love writing. I guess that makes me weird, but there are some people who love to sit around and solve math problems all day and that just doesn’t make any sense to me. I suppose I’m the same kind of weird to them that they are to me, and that’s ok. I embrace weird. Normal’s overrated, anyway.
- Discovery. Those who’ve never written fiction before may find this one difficult to understand. Don’t you know what you’ve set out to write? they wonder. In simple terms: no, not always. And even when I do, sometimes my characters will do something COMPLETELY different from what I planned. And that’s the best part. Because they’ve taken a life of their own. Because they’ve surprised me and when that happens they truly become alive. And it’s the best feeling in the world
- I love reading. I’m not saying that all readers love to write, but all writers should love to read. Period. Reading is the equivalent of studying, and if you ask me, it’s the most fun I ever have working. Because when you’re a writer, reading is working. It’s learning from the greats, and there is always ALWAYS more to learn.
- I’m a dreamer—a daydreamer, that is. I daydream all the time. When I eat, before I sleep, when I’m in the shower, I even daydream when I’m supposed to be writing. I don’t really know what everyone else daydreams about, but I dream about different places. About characters and worlds and situations that are impossible in real life, but could totally happen in a YA paranormal novel. Yes, that’s how I think. And I love it. Because in my books, the impossible can be possible. And that’s just freaking awesome.
- NOT writing hurts. I mentioned in a previous post a time when I went a few months without writing. Let me tell you, it was miserable. I felt guilty for not writing. For not working on a story. For not getting anything of literary merit down on paper. And for not keeping to the stories I tried to start. Truthfully, this is the core reason why I write. I’m a writer. I write. If I don’t, I feel like something’s missing. That’s just who I am, it’s part of my life and I’m proud of it.
In the end guys, I write because I’m a writer and writing is what I do.
Maybe you don’t write (and maybe you do!), either way, what is YOUR passion, and why do you do it?
8 comments:
This is an amazing blog post, and I totally have to agree with every point. Especially the last one. It physically hurts not to write.
Going over these, I can't really think of other reasons. Other than, perhaps, that by some luck a muse has picked me to be the pen for its story, so I have to tell it. Or at least that's how I feel sometimes when my book spills from me with no warning, and it surprises me with the power behind it.
Maybe I'm just eccentric. Haha. (I guess that might be a sign of being a writer, though not a sign as to why I am a writer)
I love writing too, you are totally not weird, that or no one knows the true meaning of weird because it should be awesome for anyone to express creativity.
I am totally a day dreamer too. My parents constantly asked me if I was in "La la land" when I was kid. I didn't know what they meant until I saw a video of my self at Disney World. While my brothers pointed out all the cool stuff they where seeing that first day, I was looking off into space absent mindedly clapping my hands. I guess that was the first clue I would be a writer some day :)
@Aspiring
What would the world be like without eccentricity? Pretty boring, I think. :)
@Jen
Ha, ha that's adorable! We writers (and creative types in general) like to live in our own worlds. And why not? We can make it as awesome and interesting as we'd like. ^_^
Most people don't like sitting for hours - unless they're a writer! :)
tried commenting on my phone, but it obviously didn't work. Anyway, your #5 reason would be my main one. I am a miserable person when I'm not writing. I don't know if it's all those characters' voices bouncing around in my head or what, but I am an impatient, irritable, miserable person/wife/mother when I'm not putting words to the page. So, really everyone is better off when I'm writing.
My sister used to ask me what I was doing when we were kids, and I would respond, "Just thinking." Yeah, she thought I was weird. I would add for myself that one of my reasons for throwing caution to the wind and writing so much is the example it sets for my kids. They watch me doing something I love & begin to appreciate the effort put into books they love.
I like to write, even if I'm not working on my book. I write journal, blogs, etc.
@Laura
Exactly! Though even I get a little antsy from time to time...*twitch*
@Fallon
Thank you for commenting even after it didn't work the first time. I appreciate that! :)
That's the way to look at it. EVERYONE really IS better when you're writing. Keeps the whole house happy, yes?
@Julie
That's a wonderful way to set an example for your kids. If they see you doing something you love, they'll understand it's not always about making huge amounts of money. It's about doing what you WANT to be doing for the rest of your life.
@Peaches
Writing when not writing is always a wonderful remedy for the GRR I'M NOT WRITING sickness. :)
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