For those of you who subscribe to my monthly-ish newsletter, you know that in 2015 I am making time to write. It might sound crazy to you, that I’m giving up T.V. time and reading time in order to write a novel that may or may not ever be published, so I thought I’d share a few thoughts about why writing is so important to me.
I write because it steadies me. It forces a pause.
Pauses create space. Space, for us introverts, is good. It allows thoughts to settle in the dust stirred up by deep conversation. Not a surface-scratch kind of talk, but one that requires a stout shovel. Those are the only conversations really worth having.
I write because when I don’t put words on paper, I feel like I’m floating, without an anchor. Everyone needs to feel the weight of a good anchor.
I write because when I don’t, I miss it. I am cranky and lazy and feel a good bit without purpose. When I don’t write, I get disappointed in myself. Even more so than when I don’t do the dishes or can’t remember to switch the laundry. Not writing feels in-authentic to me, like I’m not letting myself be myself.
I write because writers who don’t write aren’t really writers, are they?
I write because I can’t not write.
That is why I write.
And I guess that is a sign I should give up some T.V. time and keep writing.
If you are a writer, what makes you keep putting pen to paper day after day? Would you miss it if you stopped?
Inspiring, Abbie. I agree with each of these reasons, but I don’t think I can put it as beautifully as you did.
If I stopped writing, I would lose the allowance of figuring out what it is I think. Usually when I sit down to write, I think, “This piece will be a no brainer. I’ll crank it out in no time.” And then I start to write and I find something in the story I hadn’t thought about in a long time. Or I learn something I hadn’t known before. It’s a haunting process, walking into a space I am unsure of. But I would miss it if I stopped writing.
“I would lose the allowance of figuring out what it is I think.”
I think that’s a pretty beautiful way to describe it, Callie. I often don’t know what I think about a subject until I take the time to put it into words, and usually words on paper. I find the slower I digest something, the more time I take to write it down, the better I know and understand it later. I would miss out on a lot of myself if I didn’t write.