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?

22 members like this

Comment

You need to be a member of She Writes to add comments!

Join She Writes

Comment by Marcy Howes on October 21, 2011 at 9:38pm: I write because the thoughts and words flow much easier from the keyboard and the pen than from the mouth. I write because written words last longer than words spoken.

Comment by Cindy Brown on October 21, 2011 at 7:28pm: I write because I figured out this summer how to get paid for it and what is better than getting paid to do something you love?

Comment by Tawdra Kandle on October 21, 2011 at 7:19pm: I write so the voices in my head give me some peace. Seriously. My characters demand to be created.

Comment by Anni Webster on October 21, 2011 at 7:17pm: Writing grounds me through evoking everyday experiences, yet allows me to soar through imagined possibilities. It gives me roots as well as wings

Comment by Anne F Swensen on October 21, 2011 at 6:23pm: I write for hope. That the portraits of moments in the journey of one, will be recognizable to others in their own journey and, that this will create the soulful bond that disempowersthe aloneness of life. I write to smile.

Comment by Marilyn Bousquin on October 21, 2011 at 2:27pm: I write because when I was 13 and anorexic my father sat on the edge of my bed and cried a single tear. That tear woke me up. I write to continue awakening.

Comment by Dana DuGan on October 21, 2011 at 1:50pm: I can't seem to help myself. Since I was a child I have need to put into words the images I see and feel. Writing is as important as breathing to me.

Comment by Teirrah McNair on October 21, 2011 at 11:44am: http://youtu.be/JgRn-FnsVLw

Comment by Teirrah McNair on October 21, 2011 at 11:41am: I write now because my feet are tired. Thank God my words can go places I can't get to. If I could just touch a thousand hearts a minute, I'd be ever so happy.

Comment by Coty Kilpatrick on October 21, 2011 at 11:23am: A million thoughts in my head and a thousand feelings. Impossible to express in words: the chaos of the world swirling inside myself. But on paper it is all perfect and orderly. And this order creates a peace inside my own mind and inside my heart. I put a period at the end of the sentence and I'm able to rest my restless mind. At least until I'm ready to write again.

‹ Previous
1
2
3
4
5
…
19
Next ›

RSS

Welcome to
She Writes

Sign Up
or Sign In

Or sign in with:

Latest Activity

Irene Miscione replied to the discussion 'Show Me Your Novel and I'll Show You Mine' in the group Novelists (Struggling or Not)

"This is terrific! It sounds almost exactly like something that happened to a close friend of mine. The girlfriend wasn't a pastry chef, but she too was from a foreign country. I'd like to hear more so keep writing... "

1 minute ago