Brainstorming
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
What's yours?
I write to inspire others to know that through their voices they too may be seen and heard. By bringing the light into the dark places healing happens.
Because there are too many visions in my head to deal with sanely, any other way.
Like a quill dipped in ink's darkness to illuminate stories, I too dip into darkness to bring my truth to light.
I write my inspirational blog to encourage others to be confident and strong in their faith as they stand to believe God for their healing.
I write to out the alien in me, in you, in everyone.
I write exciting adventure stories to encourage teens to read and to help develop their character and appreciation for life.
I write to remember, I write to honor those I’ve lost, I write to help my children and grandchildren remember me— and write.
My story begins with all the stories before mine, and I am obligated to keep the tendrils of collective memory alive, extended.
I write to make sense and order of life. I write to ask the questions that have no answers.
I write because I'm the youngest of five and grew up never getting a word in edge wise, so there.
I write becaue it makes me feel alive. I love books and delving into new worlds, it's potential is boundless.
I write because I cannot NOT write! It is very much a part of who I am since it feeds my soul and the creativity sparks my intellectual energy!
I write because I have a story to tell from my heart.
I write because nothing unifies people like a really good story; the one thing we can all relate to is a really skillful lie that reveals truth.
I write what the voices in my head tell me to write -- so instead of people thinking I'm crazy, they'll see I'm being creative.
I write to apease my possessed dishwasher and my weary yet satisfied mothers soul. Writng has connected me to the woman I was, the woman I am and the woman I want to be.
I'm not the dream, I just empower people to them. #whyiwrite
I write to preserve my sanity.
Writing is my fun, happiness, laughter and love. Writing is the answer to all my problems—real and imagined.
It is my truest, greatest, passion in life. I feel I might go crazy if I could not.
I write to help tell the story of the times in which I live.
I write because I have to.
I write to fulfill my daily goals of performing some manner of "good deed" and to offer someone an opportunity to smile. If I do it right, the reader feels good enough to laugh out loud.
I write to understand the world and myself, for the sake of communion, for the joy of words to express what is deepest and to celebrate the dance with the Muse.