Why I Write

I think this question is asked of every person who identifies themselves at a writer at one point or another. I know people have asked me a thousand times why I spend my time writing stories that few people may ever read. "What's the point?" they ask. "Why do you write so much?"

It's something that I don't know if I can explain in a way that would make sense to anyone other than another writer. But I'll give it a try.

Writing for me is like therapy. It's a way to get feelings and thoughts out in a way that is safe and different. And it's something that is so strong inside me that there's no ignoring it. There's this urge to create these worlds and put these thoughts on paper, to let these characters out of my head and into a world of their own. It's like an impulse, an urge that cannot be ignored or left out of my life. If I don't write, I don't feel whole.

There have been times where I've woken up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep for the ideas that were twisting around in my head. I had to get up and boot up my laptop just to get the thoughts out so that I could go back to sleep. This is what it's like dealing with a writer's mind. There's no stopping it, and there's no ignoring it when the urge hits.

I wonder sometimes what my life would be like if I didn't write. And the thing that makes me certain that I was born to be a writer is that I can't imagine my life without writing. There's a hole in my heart when I think of being without writing in my life. It means so much to me.

I suppose that's really why I write. Because it is part of me. It's my heart and soul. There's nothing I can do that will stop the way I feel when I write. It makes me feel alive, whole, and purposeful.

That's why I write.