Why I Write

Why do I write? Why do I write novels? Why do I write these blog posts? Why do any of this stuff? Most people would never write unless it’s a text or a shopping list. The entire idea of using something as menial as writing to create art sounds baffling to most.

So, why do I write? Why even bother trying to create art is a world that couldn’t care less half the time? In a world that only seems to care about the latest social media stunt. I have to tell you, if I was aiming to be popular, I would definitely pick a different career. If it was money I was after, I would never bother clacking away at the keyboard. Seriously.

Yet here I am. I write even thought I’ve never made a penny doing it. Never been featured anywhere. I do this because I truly believe his is what I was put here to do. I really believe that.

No one has to tell me to do this. I’ve always believed if someone has to tell you to do something, then you’re doing the wrong thing. I believe that imbedded deep within is is something we were meant to do.

I recently watched this excellent movie, “The Legend of Bagger Vance”, in the film Will Smith tells a burned out golfer, “Yep… Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing… Somethin’ we was born with… Somethin’ that’s ours and ours alone… Somethin’ that can’t be taught to ya or learned… Somethin’ that got to be remembered… Over time the world can, rob us of that swing… It get buried inside us under all our wouldas and couldas and shouldas… Some folk even forget what their swing was like…” For me, writing is my true authentic swing. It’s what was put inside me, what I was meant to do.

I’ve never been to a writing class. Never showed any amazing skills when I was young that caught anyone’s attention. It’s something I truly love to do. It’s a source of tremendous joy for me, as well as being the most maddening and infuriating thing I’ve ever done.

When I sit and write, it’s the only time I feel like I’m doing something significant and important. It’s when I feel most in balance. Like I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. When I finish for the day, sometimes I’m tired, but I feel satisfied. Everything just feels right. It’s as the universe just feels right.

But that’s just writing. Why publish anything? Why do we bother to go through the absolute purgatory we call the publishing process? Why go through editing, formatting, editing, and then editing AGAIN? This is where we end up in one of the deepest questions. Why do we make art at all?

Same reason our ancestors painted on cave walls or built towering cathedrals. I remember Steve Jobs saying that ‘we all long to put a dent in the universe’. There’s this part of me that wants to leave something behind me. I feel a need within me to create things that say, ‘this is me, I was here, this is who I am.”

I write for the same reason that I read. To know I’m not alone. Sometimes I think we can all start living too much in our own heads. We can start to think our thoughts and struggles are only known to us, and then we don’t know what to do about it. We aren’t meant to be alone. This act of writing is more than just us putting stuff down because we think it’s important. It connects me to a larger community.

We all love stories. Some of us prefer different kinds of stories, some prefer movies, others prefer it in oral form. It’s all the same. I truly believe that the desire to tell stories is part of what makes us human. I remember there was some scientific panel gathered years ago that attempted to decipher what separated humans from apes. These highly intelligent men couldn’t come to an answer. I believe it’s our desire and ability to tell stories.

Every child wants to hear a bedtime story. Before going to sleep and dreaming, they want to dream while they’re awake. I’ve watched grown men cry watching a movie. (Its OK, I got emotional watching the end of “Spider-Men: No Way Home”, it happens) We tell and re-tell our favorites. Stories can become part of us, a piece of who we are. I heard about a woman who faced her cancer diagnosis by reading Brandon Sanderson novels.

We need engineers, doctors, lawyers, and fire fighters. The people who help keep our world running smoothly. We also need the artists, the musicians, the poets, film directors and writers. People who create the things that make us happy. Who inspire us, move us emotionally, make us cry, sing and dance. We need people who work to keep our street lights running, as well as those who shine a light on the soul.