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?
cuziwanna!
I write because it allows me to create a world on my terms, giving me what I need in that moment of creativity.
I write because I can't NOT write.
Writing was at ten years of age my first greatest joy and has never stopped being a joy!
I write to represent. Girls and women need to read about girls and women, but female protagonists are still too rare.
I write to know what I think, feel, believe and because it makes me real.
I write to discover who I am and what I know and what I have forgotten.
I don't remember ever not writing, it isn't a choice, it is who I am.
Because I cannot, NOT write,
Mary Coday Edwards
I write to find my truth. I cannot present my whole self to the world if I do not know who I am, and I find no other way to bring that self forth than through sitting down and putting words on the page, characters on the screen. Taking it one step further, sharing my writing with others, helps me to further piece the puzzle together. The more I write, the less my voice shakes when I speak in a room full of people. The more I write, the more confident I am to tackle both the challenges of the everyday and the hurdles of this long life I have been given to lead.
I write because as I type each black word against a white background it projects a sense of healing from the inside out and provides me with a sense of permanence even if it is only an illusion.
Just love to work with the words!
I write because, for some inexplicable reason, ideas for characters, dialogue and plots swirl around in my head until I give in and combine them to create a story.
I put letters together in a unique way.
Appropriately sequenced, the letters make others laugh, think, heal,or grow.
That is why I write.
I write to conjure myself and give breath to all I see, hear and feel. I write to create space where I, you, we can be found, known, and liberated. I write to be new again.
Having a crummy memory and an overactive brain, I write so my experiences and thoughts are not forgotten and the lessons I've learned not lost.
I don't know why I write. Something to do with joy, love, and the pit in my stomach that gets filled with satisfaction after a day of writing is done.
Writing is divine icing that comes through me to inspire.
I write to add clarity to my life, color and flavor to the world of others and ultimately produce pieces that resonate and may bring about change.
I write because it is the only thing that makes sense for me to do. And I can be me.
I write because it gives me the opportunity to create. For a moment, I am a god.
Writing brings clarity and helps me access myself, which teaches me who I really am.
I write because I have no choice. If I don't, I die.
I want to move, scare, anger, enlighten, amuse, enrich, confuse, educate, understand, nurture, buoy, vex, and influence you.
Writing is gathering words to trap feelings, hold memories, expand ideas, shrink the dark and celebrate the light.