About ten weeks ago I challenged the writers at Thanet Creative Writers to write about what gets them writing. This was not just so I could get variations of the word write four times in one legitimate sentence.
I wrote an entry for that on my geek blog “What gets me writing?”
As I explained in that post, writing for me is a compulsion. I have so many ideas and I just want to write them all down. It’s the only way that the characters and ideas stop nagging. More than that, I love writing.
I have an innate need to express myself with words and I love stories. The very thought that I might one day pass on without passing on the stories in my head fills me with dismay.
What gets me writing is that I must. Writing is not a choice for me, it is a compulsion. I feel the need to pass on the stories, thoughts, and ideas in my head.
The narrative form is just something that feels right. It is something that I can use to explore ideas, consequences and day dream and call it work. I mean, what other possible carriers exist where you could potentially get paid for making stuff up and writing it down?
I have no idea if I am any good at writing but I love writing and want to more of it. So much so that this is actually about the seventh blog post I have drafted out today. In one evening I have written for four different blogs. Those posts will appear over the next week.
That’s not uncommon for me, I write a lot. I write so much that if given enough time I can write for the entire week in one go. Some posts, like this one, are easy to write. Others, like the ones about gender, or romance, take days or weeks to get right. Strangely, they are the most satisfying to create.
What makes it worse is that I have a Netflix account. Every time I watch something I come away with five or six new ideas. Add to that dedicated daydreaming time, actual dreams, and flashes of inspiration that come along out of nowhere and you have a lot of ideas tumbling fully formed onto the page. However, just because the ideas are well formed it does not mean that there is still not a lot of work left to do to get the ideas turned into good writing.
The hard work that makes a good idea into okay writing is possibly the best part of the whole process. Turning okay writing into great writing is hellish and should only be done if you are a compulsive writer. That’s not entirely true. The final editing process is hard but it is worth it when you see people enjoying your work. That joy I see when others read what I have read, or the tears they cry during a sad part, or the smirks at a funny moment, or the sighs at the… you get the point – that reaction – that is why I write.
