by Barbara A. Black

Created on: January 06, 2008

I'm sure that not every writer writes for the same reason. That would be like saying that every singer sings for the same reason, or that every ballplayer plays for the same reason. So each of us has his or her own reason, or reasons, for writing. I've never really given much thought to WHY I write, because it seemed to be something I did naturally. So this topic intrigues me, and I am writing "off the top of my head" and wondering what I will come up with!

There is, first of all, one major reason I write, and I'm sure that many writers would say the same thing: I write because I MUST write! There seems to be something inside of me that, at times, demands that I put words on paper. That, then, is probably the main reason I write. I am obligated to do so.

But there are other reasons I write, and I'm sure some writers, but not all, would also agree that they are reasons they write, also. One is the hope of someday making money from my writing. Yes, I would love to be a published and sought-after author, but I may never get to that point. However, I can continue to work toward writing something that will, eventually, find its way into print and be of some monetary value to me. So I write, also, in the hope of someday making some money from my writing.

I also would say that I write to share my life experiences, in the hope that someone will, someday, somewhere, learn a lesson from my life that will keep him or her from making a mistake that I have made. Not knowing which mistake I made that might help someone, I have to be willing to "spill my guts", so to speak, in order to help that possible unknown reader, when and if the time comes for that reader to read and learn from my experience and not from his or her own. If something I write about my own experiences can keep someone else from making a mistake I made, my time will be worth it, even if I never know that it has helped.

And I write for posterity. One of the things I am working on is my life story. Since I was born and raised in a log cabin, to a large, poor family, I have had experiences that my children cannot fathom, unless I put them into words for them. My grandchildren, raised in comparative luxury (by my childhood standards) certainly have no idea what it means to do without. So, hopefully, my sharing my life with them by writing will help them be more aware of the blessings and relative fortune that they were born into and are being raised in. If even one of them ever understands an inkling of the difference between their world and mine, my sharing of my life, bad experiences and good ones, will be worth every minute of doing so.

For all these reasons, and probably more that I am still unaware of, I write. I write poetry, essays, short stories, history, even attempts at plays and musicals. They may not be great, and they may never make me famous, but they are who I am. Without my writing, I am a dried-up seed, with no life left in me. Even putting me in the ground and watering me and giving me plenty of sunshine and fresh air will not revive me; I MUST have writing to live and grow! That is why I write, and that is why I will continue to write as long as I can put one letter after the other to form words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs. I am a writer, and proud of it!

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