Frenchman's Bay, Maine

Frenchman's Bay, Maine

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Why Do We Write?

Our discussion question this week from the Writer's Center: Why do you write?

My answer:
I write because I like words. I like putting them together. I enjoy their sounds.
And it’s amazing to see a poem or story emerge that I never knew was inside. Sometimes writing helps crystallize a moment in time.
I write to understand, to “make sense of life,” as Nadine Gordimer says. To try and figure out how I feel and think about spiders, people, God, spaghetti, and anything else. Somehow the act of writing taps deep inside and accesses those thoughts and emotions.
I write to have a voice. So many people want to talk loudly, all at once. Maybe it’s easier for me to speak through writing.
I write because I love reading the writing of others -- books and essays and poetry and stories. And I hope to give at least give a little of the same.
Good question!

2 comments:

Holly said...

I love to read what other people write. I like the words they choose and how they form sentences. I'm amazed by it and think, "how do they do that?!"

Betsy said...

This really mirrors my feelings as well. And, as fitting for the topic,
it's also very well written!