There are as many reasons to ask this question as there are ways to answer it. For many, writing is a uniquely personal form of expression, offering a way of creating another world or trying to make sense of the world in which they live. It can be a compulsion, or something that feels as though it is dragged, kicking and screaming, into existence. Writing means different things to different people, and its meaning can change over time.
I was thinking about this recently following an invitation to participate in a creative project which was a bit outside of my normal scope. As evidenced on this blog and in my stories and journal entries and letters and the like, I love words. I like to play with them, test out their mettle, carefully select the ones which suit my current purpose and help me to express the sometimes apparently inexplicable. I don’t always know where I’m going when I start to create something, and quite often I finish in a location that is unexpected, but for me that is part of the joy of creation.
The creative endeavour is the Deep Red Scarlet Pen project. This project is orchestrated by the artistically talented Emma Kay Inks, and it began with an accidental over-ordering of scarlet red pens for drawing. What to do with them? Offer to send them out to interested people to participate in creating something with pen and paper. This came to my attention through a mutual writing friend and I thought I’d give it a go. It seemed like a good theory until the package arrived by post and I had to give serious consideration to what I could do with it. Drawing would be an option for some, but my artistic endeavors with pens and pencils are crude at best. Then it occurred to me. What would I normally do with such a brilliant pen? Write, of course. This is what I came up with, captured in a spiral with a scarlet red pen.
Why write? To find out what I really think. To make stuff up. To create new worlds, give life to characters who inhabit my head in places both real and imagined. To test out what it’s like to be what I know I’m not. To create new stories. To entertain. To encourage. To record in some small way the awe and wonder of life as I experience it. To quest, to search for a deeper layer of meaning. To be playful. To show a different way of seeing and being. To be heard. To surprise. To make myself laugh. To take another viewpoint. To exact revenge in a literary style. To capture snapshot moments and snatches of eavesdropped conversations. To create empathy for people and situations. To make sense of it all. To be.
Why do you write?
[Photo: a foggy road through the Hartley valley]
You have fascinating perspectives why you write. I enjoy it as a way of communication and express my views.
Thank you, Svet. And that’s part of the joy of writing – it is different for everyone 😊
I like this comment of yours. “I don’t always know where I’m going when I start to create something, and quite often I finish in a location that is unexpected, but for me that is part of the joy of creation.” I can so relate. I sometimes enjoy just starting something and watch where I end up.
Although there are lots of reasons why I write, the fact that my own thinking becomes clearer as a result has to be a big reason. It surprises me how many of my ideas are half formed, but through the discipline of writing it forces me to go deeper, think longer, and usually come out with a stronger and more coherent perspective.
Thank you for your comments, Terry. I’m glad I’m not the only one who ends up in sometimes surprising destinations whilst on a writing spree. I agree too around the clarity that writing brings. This can be in fictional or factual form for me. If there is something going on that I need to understand better, or excavate what I really think rather than leave it as superficial, I have to write it out. Only then will the truth out. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Your contribution to the red ink project is wonderful and so stylishly hand written too. What a lovely idea.
Thank you 😊
Fab! I’m glad you took part in the project. It’s always good to push the creative boundaries occasionally. And I came across this the other day on FB: “Writing as writing. Writing as rioting. Writing as righting. On the best days, all three” … and I thought, yes, that just about sums it up.
Thanks for sharing the project details! And what a great summary of why we write – perfectly expressed.
Fab! I’m glad you took part in the project. It’s always good to push the creative boundaries occasionally. And I came across this on FB the other day: “Writing as writing. Writing as rioting. Writing as righting. On the best days, all three” … and I thought, yes, that just about sums it up.
That is a very loaded question and I could wax on for ever :). Though to see why I started writing my blog check out this post 🙂
https://reallifeofanmsw.com/about
Thanks for responding, and I enjoyed reading about what started you on the blogging path. It seems like an extension of your long habit of journalling and is wide enough to capture what really matters to you along with a transparency and depth to connect with others. Thanks again for sharing.
I guess there are many reasons why I write, but the main one is because I’m not at all happy when I don’t write! I’ve figured out that it’s not really a choice.
I know what you mean – I tend to get agitated if I haven’t written for a day or two. It’s best just to keep at it!
Keep pushing those boundaries. I think one of the reasons I write is to feel really, really Alive.
So true – thank you.
I think what I get most out of writing is to be heard (when I feel no one else is listening), to laugh at myself (when I start to take myself too seriously) and to make sense of something (when my thoughts are disorganized and self-deprecating).
They are all great reasons, and I particularly like writing as a way to laugh at yourself in defiance of being too serious – what a great idea! Thank you for sharing.