Why Writers Write

I was touring a few blogs today and found one writer who, after stating some grim statistics, wondered why writers write. My answer is – because we can’t stop. We’d write with a stick in the dirt if there was no other method around.

Most of us have kept a journal since childhood. I know I did. Later, when my children were small and did, and said such funny things, I wanted to share them. So I wrote long letters to my mom and my aunt. Snail-mail letters are becoming a thing of the past, but I still write to a cousin of my husband’s mother. She is elderly and enjoys looking forward to something in the mail - besides bills.

Writers write because they love books; the adventure waiting behind each cover. Someone new and interesting is waiting there to take you on a journey to a new place that you'd never visit otherwise.

Writers write because there seems to be a story behind every situation. Recently, a friend told me about how her great grandfather immigrated to New Orleans in the early 1800s. He’d been a high ranking officer in Napoleon’s army, but in New Orleans he was relegated to collecting sewage in a wagon. Ah, there’s a novel in that little bit of history. It sets the imagination into motion.

So many ideas,so little time. So many characters wanting a voice. So writers, keep scribbling! There's a New Year ahead and adventures to record.