Why Do I Write?

Why do I Write?

This question isn't uncommon amongst the network of writers. Is it because we have nothing better to do? That our lives are dull that we feel the need to create imaginary people in our head? Some of these do happen to pop up in conversations. The answer is simply no.

The reason I write is because if i didn't do it, I would only be denying the characters that have formed in my head a fighting chance of coming out. It's a bit like a writing a shopping list. You make one, go to the store, pay for your items, get home and then you realise that you've forgotten something. That nagging inside your head can become annoying.

I write because it is known to be therapeutic, it takes your mind out of the box and makes you forget anything that you're feeling and anything that is troubling or worrying you, making you feel that you can face another day. Writing for me is a bit like sleep. It refreshes my mind and it makes me happy. What else could be better than that?

Some people can think writing is a waste of time. It is true that writing is a long, long, long process to be called a potential career but it can be done. What if all the great writers like Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte or Mark Twain decided that it was exactly that? What if Shakespeare never wrote his tragedies? What would children study? What imagination would they gain from snippets of novels and poems?

We would be nowhere. They all had faith that they were good enough to write. They believed they could make a reader weep, laugh and love their characters as if they were on that journey with them in person. It is hard work but what isn't today? Years and years ago it was easy to get work. Nowadays, it's pot luck.

I write because it is who i am. It is in my blood to be a writer.