Tuesday, August 23, 2011

When in doubt, write it out!

Over lunch last week a friend asked me a simple question:

“Why do you write?”

Honest answer number one, income. Answers two through seven were more heartfelt; I’ll share.

Creativity: I cannot paint, dance or sing; self-expression must escape somewhere or I run the risk of artistic hemorrhage. (And for the sake of those in a 5 mile radius, singing is off the table.)

Sanity: My subconscious is like an over caffeinated Disney ride; boundless story ideas careening off in wild directions, screaming and shouting for a place to call home. This leaves two options; corral the rowdy ride into something worth reading, or admit I hear voices. (Stigmas abound.)

Anger Management: We all have moments of homicide contemplation. (Think family reunion or staff meeting.) Killing fictional characters carries no jail time.

Calm: When Mommy writes – no one is allowed to interrupt unless blood spills. If the laptop is a rockin – don’t come a knockin’. (Truth – I sometimes type up grocery lists just to be alone. Shhh.)

Growth: Creative writing challenges me to think beyond the confines of structural reporting; a little mental growth is a good thing.

Love of Words: On average, I devour two books a week. Everything from biographical non-fiction to the smuttiest of smut! (Variety is the spice of life, both on and off the pages.) I cannot imagine achieving success as a writer without a genuine love for reading. Find me an author bio not containing the phrase, “I have loved books since I was a small child.”

So, there you have it. I write to stay employed, creative, sane, out of jail, calm, challenged and informed.

Huh? Maybe more politicians should write autobiographies?


4 comments:

Chris Curtin said...

I'd add to share information not easily found. Sometimes after hours/days of searching for something I'll write the solution in my blog just so someone else can find it.

Also helps sometimes to write things that are hard to say/express in a short time.

Not sure how you find time to read two books a week though!

Chris

Kathryn Elliott said...

Chris - of course I have time to read two books, it's Yankee season and hubby hogs the remote!

BBC said...

Like you, I write because of the everything going on in my head. If I didn't write, or stopped writing, the ideas wouldn't stop coming.

So I might as well write :)

And sanity plays into it too.

Kathryn Elliott said...

Mindy - Glad I have company! Writer minds, scary places, but oh so much fun!:-)