Thursday, April 23, 2009

What Keeps You Writing?

I asked the question, What keeps you writing?, in my last post, and I figured I should supply an answer of my own if I expect (and hope) other people to answer it too.

It's one of those questions that its hard to put a finger on an answer because it's so many things at once. For one, saying that I've been writing since I was a kid doesn't explain my motivation to continue writing now, when I'm 26-years-old. And saying that I hope to become a published novelist (hopefully starting with my current WIP) doesn't explain it either (although it'd be wonderful if it happens), since I know I'd continue writing for the rest of my life even if I never got published.

So, what is it exactly? It's definitely no one thing, but, what I can tell you is that it's...

  • Words... discovering the right words and stringing them together to form a great sentence, paragraph, page. When I find those right words, it's an electric feeling that keeps pushing me forward to string together even more electric sentences that, as a whole, tell a story.
  • Curiosity... It's why I read and it's also why I write; this general desire to know more about the world and people around me pushes me to look deeper into the hows, whys, wheres, whats, and whens.
  • The act of writing... Obviously tied to my fascination with the way words work together, simply sitting down and getting an idea out on paper doesn't feel like work to me. Okay, sometimes it does, but I live for those days when the words fly right out onto the page, and the story comes out of me as if it never belonged to me in the first place.
  • Okay, okay, getting published keeps me writing, too... when I get frustrated with any of the above, knowing that I'm working towards my goals of publishing my stories and novels gets me back on track and focused on what I need to do next with my writing.

So, now it's your turn: what keeps you writing?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's not what keeps me writing, its what I need. I need to write to survive. I need to write so I can last another day. I need to feel my cool pencil in my sweaty fingers so I can hang onto what's left of my sanity.

Ceylan

Cindy R. Wilson said...

I keep writing for all those reasons you mention and one other huge one. I want to reach people. I know how much I've gotten from books in the past. Entertainment, guidance, comfort, companionship, a vacation, if you will. There is something in me that needs to give this to other people. That longs to have someone pick up something I've written, read it, and say, "Wow, that really spoke to me." Awesome!