Why do I write?

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I often ask myself, “What on earth possessed me to be a writer? Besides being a total masochist.”

Writing can be enormously frustrating, especially when my drive to create gets paired with the attention span of a toddler some days. In fact, to be perfectly honest, sometimes I really HATE writing. 

I often promise myself I will start writing in earnest at some future date – New Year’s Day, my birthday, as soon as I get through whatever crisis hijacks my energy at the moment. Beginning on that date, I will devote at least one hour each day to writing, no matter what.

Alas, I have a gazillion excuses for not putting pen to paper. I need to clean house. Pay bills. Get groceries. Cook supper. Check Facebook to see what’s going on with my friends and relatives. When my resolve to start writing in earnest fails to translate into action, I’m tempted to give up and say, “Oh well, what’s the use?” Curses! Foiled again!

But if writing is such a royal pain, why do I write?

Writing is my “voice.” When I was a child – actually, well into my teen years – making two-way conversation was a supreme challenge. I could write well before I could speak well. Even today, writing comes more easily to me than speaking when I need to share important thoughts or strong feelings. I can express myself without yelling, and without someone interrupting me and making me lose my train of thought.

I have things I want to say. I want to do my part to change the world by writing on behalf of a favorite cause. I have ideas I want to contribute to the public conversation. I want others to know what it’s like to be me or why I think the way I do.

Writing has been somewhat lucrative. From young adulthood on, my writing ability has assured me I would never starve. During my career as a journalist, then as a public relations consultant and finally as a human services provider, lots of people knew I could write a coherent sentence better than the average person and wanted me to help them get their own ideas/messages on paper. Or help their organizations get donors. Even more enticingly, people offered to pay me real money for this assistance.

Writing beat other professions I could have chosen. As hard as writing could be at times, journalism – or even preparing grant proposals – sure beat waiting tables or flipping burgers for a living. Courses in mathematical information systems or data analytics would have bored me silly, even if they led to one of those “hot” tech careers. And I sure as heck was not a public speaker or numbers cruncher.

Writing helps me develop a filter. Instead of allowing my mouth to run faster than my brain, I can look over each word or sentence and ask myself, “How is this going to sound to others?” Is this what I really want to say? Can it be misinterpreted? Is there a way to get my point across more clearly? Or nicely?

Writing serves as a safety valve. When I find myself walking around with random anxieties, fears and resentments competing for rent-free space in my head, putting it all down on paper helps me let go of some of that anger, anxiety and frustration. 

I love having actually written something. I love the feeling of accomplishment I get when I finally put pen to paper and come up with something well-reasoned and rational, then polish it like a brilliant little gem. I’m still thrilled to see my by-line in a magazine or newspaper, and it would be even more of a thrill to see my name on a book.

Writing can serve as a form of prayer. Writing helps me focus my thoughts in an organized way, even when I’m communicating with God. I feel much more “centered” after journaling during my morning meditation. Keeping a journal also encourages me to record the fruits of prayer, which in turn reminds me that God does answer prayer from time to time. 

My writing ability is a gift from God. I’ve known since third grade that writing would play some role in my life’s purpose, whatever that turned out to be. I’ve known this is a talent I must not waste. I want to make good use of my gifts, rather than hiding my light under a bushel. 

Since I have all these marvelous reasons to write, what keeps me from doing so in a more disciplined fashion? What gets in my way? What makes writing such a pain?

One problem is, I frequently have so many ideas floating around in my mind I don’t know where to start. Then I end up staring into space and writing nothing. When I do manage to commit something to paper, I tend to flit from one subject to another, so I have piles and piles of random notes written on yellow or white legal pads. Most of these end up buried under a mound of other papers in my office, or in one of the 68 boxes in the basement marked “miscellaneous.” 

I suspect another problem as well. “Is it because I’m afraid?” I ask myself. “What am I afraid of?” That I won’t get answers to the questions I’m asking? That someone will disagree with what I write? That I’ll end up looking foolish or awful in print? That people will reject not only my writing, but me as a person? 

So how do I get past these barriers and motivate myself to write? 

In the end, I know it all boils down to self-discipline. Feet to the fire. Derriere in the chair. Just do it. Write already! 

And another thought: What if I never get around to writing? Someday I’ll die without ever having said what I really wanted to say. Lately that’s been reason enough to overcome writer’s block.

Wait a minute … the cat’s litter box really needs cleaning, doesn’t it?

49 thoughts on “Why do I write?”

  2. Thanks for laying out your reasons for writing. I write for a few reasons that immediately come to mind: 1) I taught ESL for 32 years, so I should be writing myself; 2) Others have said I do it well, so I want to do it to glorify God with that ability; 3) I have things I want to say from a Christian perspective.

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  3. I could totally relate to writing. I can write my thoughts much better than I can speak them. How interesting that as a child, you were a strong writer rather than speaking. I think that is how God wired you. And yes, it is quite an excellent filter. I need one, too. Blessings to you and your gift of writing.

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  4. Hello, this is the first time I have come across your blog. All I can say is THANK YOU!! I understand where you are coming from. Having written two books both on very personal topics neither one not on a best seller list and selling less than 100 copies. I understand a little of what you are going through. Like you I see my writing as a God given talent. Yet one thought haunts me….”who is going to want to read this?” Then I had to realize it doesn’t matter and it doesn’t matter if no one does. Why? Because I write because I love writing. I love the research that I do while writing and I love sharing what I have learned. In the end that adds up to only one thing, just sit down and write. Besides I have no idea what God has in store for me, maybe I just haven’t written what I am supposed to yet, but if I do not write then it will never get written! That one thought keeps me writing. I wish you the best on your writing journey and wanted to encourage you to keep going!

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  5. I’ve collected more than a few quotes about this difficult process of engineering words into worthwhile meaning. For example, Dorothy Parker expressed how many of us feel: “I hate writing; I love having written.” Ernest Hemingway spoke truth as well: “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” / It’s helpful to know that “Every writer . . . has trouble writing” (Joseph Heller), and that “writing is a process in which we discover what lives in us. The deepest satisfaction of writing is precisely that it opens up new spaces within us of which we were not aware before we started to write. To write is to embark on a journey whose final destination we do not know. Thus, writing requires a real act of trust. We have to say to ourselves: I do not yet know what I carry in my heart, but I trust that it will emerge as I write” (Henri Nouwen). Praise God, we can count on him to help with the emergence.

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  7. Pingback: Why do I write? – QuietMomentsWithGod

  8. Somewhere along the way, I totally missed that you had a career as a journalist. That’s very cool. Well, I, for one, really enjoy your writing. I totally get the distractions, though. Some days, I can’t seem to finish my blog entry before noon!

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  12. I think you should ease up on yourself. In just the months I’ve been reading your posts you’ve contributed more of genuine value to we readers than most authors who may have generated many, many more words.

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  13. Oh, can I identify with this. It’s much like the experience I had with exercise. Once I made it a priority and decided most of the other things (excuses) could wait it has become easy to fit in 30 – 60 minutes of exercise each day. I realize writing is a bit different because of like you say there are so many thoughts to write down it’s hard to focus. But I think getting rid of the excuses is the first step. Maybe even joining a writing group so you have someone to be accountable to would help. Don’t waste the gift He gave you.

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  18. Leave the litter box for a day or two (NOT too many, though!😷), but keep writing. I have a quote somewhere in my desktop that says, “Some people die with their music still inside them.” (Or something like that.) So I am determined NOT to be one of those! My writing and my music is gradually coming out. Keep the “tunes” of your writing flowing! ❤️&🙏, c.a.

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  20. Nice! I especially like “derriere in the chair.” It involves the same discipline — and the same part of the anatomy — as what I used to tell my freshman English students, and it rhymes too! I also like what you say about not getting distracted.

    Oh, look! A squirrel!

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  23. OK, STOP RIGHT THERE!

    STEP. AWAY. FROM. THE. LITTER. BOX.

    I don’t have cats, but otherwise, I identify completely. You make some good points, especially about not wanting to leave this world without having said what you have to say.

    And yes, writing can not only make sure you’re saying exactly what you want to say, but it also prevents your being misquoted. If what you’ve said is in writing, it’s very easy to set the record straight. For example, the apostle Paul would get frustrated with the criticism he received regarding what he was preaching or how he was saying it. But being imprisoned turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as he started writing instead of traveling and speaking – and centuries later we have about a third of the New Testament as a result.

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