Why I Write

Writing helps me to understand my ideas, to work them out, and to channel my thoughts and questions onto the page. And once they’re there, I can begin to make sense of them and figure out what the answers might be. In this sense, writing serves as a way to bring order and clarity to my thinking.

In addition, I enjoy creating worlds and characters through stories, as well as transmitting my ideas through the written word. Writing is like playing a song through words instead of chords. The story is the song, but I’m writing pages and pages to tell it rather than expressing it through musical harmony.

Just as a musician might hear in their mind’s eye the harmony or the lyrics to a song, I see the story through my mind’s eye and how the narrative unfolds. It’s something that comes natural to me, but the real work is in putting the words down on the page.

Learning the craft of writing is similar to learning to play a musical instrument. It takes time to learn the chords, and then to play them accurately and quickly and at the correct tempo for the song. With writing, one has to first write, then edit over and over and over . . . Whereas playing a musical instrument is more about the performance, good writing is like having a good final product (i.e. novel, short story, etc.) that can be read swiftly and understood clearly.

I write first and foremost because it allows me to convey my thoughts and feelings, and that in itself is a tremendous reward. Without writing, I would feel as if I were silenced from communicating in the best way I knew how. To use the analogy of a musician again, it would be like a guitarist who was prohibited from playing the guitar. That would cause restless tension and frustration for want of expressing themselves in the most direct and purest way.

Writing creates a bridge for my emotions and thoughts to the world. People have different bridges which they use to connect with the world in a way that expresses who they are as individuals and creative beings. The bridge we use helps us connect and understand each other rather than remain trapped in some sort of inner prison, isolated and disconnected from each other if we didn’t use our talent(s).