Why I Write

Greetings,



I was talking to an old high school friend today and we got onto my writing and they asked me why I write. I can’t remember quite what I told them but I think it was rather lame and along the lines of because it’s fun. Then I really started to think about it. And I sort of came up with a much better explanation as to why I write. True it is fun but there are also a lot of other things that drive me to write. I thought of four good reasons that I write so here they are. Here’s why I write!


(1) Immortality
Now the allure to immortality is something that we have all felt at one time or another I’m sure. Just the whole thought of being able to see the world grow and change over millions of years seems fun. But I gave up the idea of living forever quite a while ago. But immortality to me now no longer applies to me living forever. Now it applies to my writing and what I’ll leave behind. I’m going to become immortal through the words that I write. Because no matter how you look at it writing is never going to be a dead art and reading is never going to be a lost talent. So I write because I want to be immortal through my words. I don’t care if people 1,000,000 years from now don’t know my life. But if they read my books then I’m immortal. Look at The Epic of Gilgamesh which (epic poem) it was recorded on 12 clay tablets in Ancient Mesopotamia and the earliest versions of the Epic date as early as 2150-2000 BC. People still read it today so whoever wrote it is, at least in my eyes, immortal.


(2) Escape
I have a fantastic life and I’m happy with it just as it is. Yet I still want to escape it. And when I get to escape it is when I write. I have the ability to put myself into whatever world I very well please. I can escape the life that I’m in now and paint myself a brand new one with words. If anything ever goes wrong in that escape of mine I can always shrug it off, rewrite it, or just forget about it. When I write I easily slip into my words and forget everything that is going on around me and I can come back whenever I want. No matter how fantastic your life is we all need an escape sometimes and writing is my escape.


(3) Fun
Writing is and always will be fun for me because I have control over everything that happens. Sometimes when I read books I wish I could make changes but since it is not my work I just have to hang on for the ride. But when I write I can change anything at anytime I want. Plus I can make things up. I can make a new language or a new land all of my own. If I really wanted I could make my humans purple and green. The fact that I can add or subtract tings is what makes writing fun because I make all the choices.


(4) Accomplishment
Writing always makes me feel accomplished even if I don’t get it published. When I write a good short story I feel accomplished… you know that warm bubbly feeling in you stomach. Haha. Or when I work on my book I feel accomplished every time I look at the page count! It’s just so cool to know that I’m making progress towards something that I want. Or even better then the page count would be the word count. You guys saw my posts for 100,000 words and how I was excited. Its things like that which make me feel accomplished. And heck getting published is an added bonus to finishing things.


There you have it. I hope it makes as much sense to you as it does to me. And perhaps it’s given you something to think about. Maybe you’ll pick up a pen and write.


Laters,
T.V.