Why do I write?

I decided to write this post after a comment made by Nanner in a thread on her site. I had mentioned that I’m not sure I want to bare all my emotions in my writing for fear of what that would mean. She asked me “Why do you write?” My last comment was something to the effect for entertainment value. However, it got me thinking about the subject.

Why do I write?

In a discussion of poetry, I mentioned that while I write songs, I don’t consider them poetry. I consider myself a musician. Part of my creative outlet as a musician is writing songs, most of which have lyrics. However, the part of my songwriting that really expresses my emotions is the music, not the lyrics. As a lyric writer, I consider myself more of a story teller. Some of the songs are taken from personal experience, some are just stories, the ones on my Voice of the Spirit CD are either interpretations of Bible stories, or tales of hope, faith, and redemption, themes close to my heart as a Christian.

Why do I write?

My blog is filled with things that are going on in my life, my opinions on news, politics, and religion, and just general stuff that has no real meaning or substance. It’s kind of like having a conversation with the people you know. I’m not sure what prompted my to start a blog, other than it seemed like something neat to try as so many people were doing it. I truthfully never expected anyone besides my wife to read it. Yet now, I have a group of steady “readers” who not only seem to like what I write, but recommend it to others. They’ve become friends and acquaintances though we’ve never actually met. More that I ever expected. It’s a great community.

Why do I write?

I took away all of the excuses and rationalizations and got down to the real reason I write. To sum it up, I write so I don’t feel alone. There are times when I feel like a solitary person in a crowd. People surround me, yet I don’t feel any connection to them. I’ve got all this stuff going on in my head, like my brain never shuts down. But most of it stays in my head. I’m not close with too many people. I know a large number of people, but beyond my wife, with whom I have no secrets, I can count the people I would share my inner most thoughts with on one hand. You know, the friend you can trust with anything? I can only think of perhaps two or three people that fall into that category.

I write to get people to interact with me. I need and crave the feeling that someone might value what I have to say. The interesting thing about the blogging community is that since communication isn’t in real time, per say, you have time to think about what you’re going to say, find the right words. Since communication is not face to face, it seems to make it easier to express yourself.

I write so that maybe I can get these things out of my head and down on something. I write so that I can feel like people like me and want to talk to me, if only in print. I write….I don’t know why I write. Because sometimes I need to. Because sometimes the only way I can say something is to write it down and leave it for someone to read and wait for the response. Because sometimes it’s easier to say things without actually speaking the words. Speaking words gives them power. Writing words just makes them words on a page. I write because hiding behind a laptop or computer screen typing is easy while confronting issues with people face to face is hard.

I write because.

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