by Jim Bradley

Created on: May 09, 2008

Why do I write?

I write because it is impossible for me not to. I write because, even if I don't want to, my 'writing muse' drags me, kicking and screaming, away from the television to the computer. I write because it is a release valve which allows the build up of all my thoughts to spill out onto the paper or the monitor screen. I write because it is as natural to me as breathing!

It makes no difference to me whether the content of my writing is seen by others as being good, bad or indifferent. I write for myself, first and foremost. If anyone else reads what I have written then that, of course, is a bonus. If, after reading, they should actually like it or even leave some feedback by way of a comment, then that only encourages me to write even more. Only by receiving feedback can we hone our craft. Writers don't sit in isolated ivory towers, fooling themselves into thinking they are about to be the next big thing and suddenly explode from obscurity onto the market, having just penned the latest blockbuster. Well, okay - apart from J K Rowling, they don't!

There is a deeper reason for why I write though. It's not particularly that I feel I have some deeply profound message to tell the world, (and would anyone listen to me anyway?), its simply that I write because I love it with a passion!

I may not be an expert in grammar, punctuation, spelling and all the other nuts n bolts of this industry, but those groups of letters, those words, are the tools of my craft. As a carpenter wields his hammer and chisel to create something of beauty that will last long after the maker himself, so I use pen and paper or a keyboard, to carve out my own masterpiece of words.

But then a curious thing happens. When the article, story, poem or essay is finished, I suddenly become my own worst critic, harsher than any other. Occasionally, I may feel content, pleased even, at a piece of work, but that happens rarely. All those hours of slogging away in front of the screen or holding the pen too tightly, developing my RSI, goes for nothing as my critical eyes scan eagerly over the page while my muse now whispers in my ear how bad it is.

However, every now and then, there may be that 'diamond' among the other, more mundane, run of the mill writing, and when it diamond appears, it makes it all worthwhile and justifies all those hours... days... weeks... months...(?) of staring at the blank canvas, suffering from that dreaded writing disease - Writers Block. Sometimes it can be even more painful when you get a prolonged bout of procrastination too, but that's another story.

So, why do I write? Because I can and because nobody has ever told me I can't. I won't give up the day job just yet but I wont stop writing either.

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