Write Stuff

[catelin]

I've been thinking about writing over the last few days...really thinking about it. Mostly, I've been wondering about the different reasons people write, and how they write--how much or little of their own voices creep into their printed words, what motivates them. I'm not thinking so much about journaling. I can certainly understand most of the many reasons a person might journal. I'm talking about writing for an audience--poetry, fiction, essays...those sorts of things. I was discussing this with my doctor, who often writes for a living. We talked about our reasons for writing and I realized for the first time that not all of us writers go through the same process to create our stories. I think there are different types of writers and I'm trying to figure out what they might be.

I perceive myself as more of a scribe, even though I write fiction for the most part. I chronicle little pieces of people and things that shine and catch my attention somehow. I find a comfort in acknowledging the tremendous battles/losses/heroics/etc. to be found in the smallest of moments. I tell the stories of the angels that dance on the heads of pins...or at least, that's how I think of what I do. I am compelled to write, not so much as a psychological release of my demons, but as a way of reaching out and patting the universe's hand. It's corny, I know. But some of the best and most beautiful things in my life are.

So what is it, writers? What is it that makes you do what you do? How is it you perceive what your purpose in writing is? What do you like or dislike most about it? I'm so intensely curious about this now.

Comments

[anoisblue.livejournal.com]

How weird...this is just now on my friends list as a new post, Cate, but dated 1/26? I probably should think about this more before I write but... I write because I want to live forever, because so many people I loved died when I was young and I would be absolutely thrilled if I even had a grocery list from them. Actually, one of my grandma's kept notes in her Bible and a small diary of road trips with grocery expenses and gas expenses etc... and while my cousins and other relatives were busy grabbing up the expensive furniture and silver, I grabbed that Bible and that little book, it's all I wanted. I started writing letters to people when I was very young - books of them, never sent, just in case I died. I found out I was more me on paper than I could ever be with my voice, in person, with all the fears of rejection etc...

Yes, I think that's it. I dont ever worry about rejection when I write (yes, even when I get a rejection)... And also, it's the craft. Growing at it, completing something you really LIKE, telling a story so it moves someone...all of that.

[catelin.livejournal.com]

I've always kept journals for that reason...to leave a bit of myself behind. They're so completely garbled and unorganized, though; there's no telling what anyone would think of them! The craft part of it is something that sort of sneaks up on me. I'm too lazy to really take an active approach to improving my writing...but I can look back at things I wrote even a couple of years ago and see a difference. That's always a good sign!