Tell Us: Why Do You Write?

Today is The National Day On Writing. No, really, it is. It was officially declared to be so by the Congress, so you know it's for real, and it's sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English. To mark the day, they have posed a question to the world, or at least the world of writers (that would be our world): Why Do You Write?

I love this question, and I love the answers it brings. We had a wonderful six-word memoir contest (inspired by the six-word memoir project at Smith Magazine) on this very subject, and I invite you all to answer it in a new form on She Writes today: tell us why you write in 140 characters or less. That way you can get in on the action (if you are a Twitter user) by tweeting your answer as well and marking it with the hashtag #whyiwrite. Our friends at the YA site Figment.com are participating, as is the The New York Times Learning Network and many others, so we will all be in very good company.

My answer?

Writing is my leap of faith in the face of impermanence and loss, my hope that it is possible to ease pain by speaking truth. #whyiwrite

(Amen, Rahna.)

What's yours?

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Comment by Kate Defrise on October 20, 2011 at 7:55am: Because there's nothing like a good story. We need them as much as we need food and oxygen. #whyiwrite

Comment by Claire Wagner on October 20, 2011 at 7:52am: I have to borrow this quote from blogger Jeff Goins: "Real writers don’t write for recognition. They don’t do it for fame, accolades, or notoriety.They do it because they cannot not write." I've made a living from writing for about 30 years and sometimes don't know why I do it other than I'm just a writer. It's who I am. I don't know why!

Comment by Leslie F. Miller on October 20, 2011 at 7:52am: Why do I write? Why do I breathe? It’s a function of being. When I stop one, I stop the other.

Comment by Carla Sarett on October 20, 2011 at 7:52am: Writing is more fun than anything else I do.

Comment by Elizabeth Trever Buchinger on October 20, 2011 at 7:51am: I write because nothing compares with inventing a tightrope one step at a time.

Comment by Beth Ann Masarik on October 20, 2011 at 7:50am: I write to make a difference and to show "my kids" that dreams can come true. (I'm a youth minister assistant)