Why Do We Write?

Why so many of us blurt out our thoughts into a piece of paper.

Photo by Florian Klauer on Unsplash

I’ve rewritten this post a few times now.

It’s really hard to find the reason behind your actions.

Especially when it is something you’ve doubted yourself for.

I still debate with myself if I can call myself a writer. Some say that as long as you write you are a writer, but that’s too easy I think. I’ve read some people that make me ‘oh’ and ‘ah’ at their use of the language. Some writers leave me breathless. Some open my mind — my very stubborn mind — to new ideas that I would never think I could agree with. Some paint such a scene in front of my eyes that I have to ask myself if I’m still reading or if the book I’m holding suddenly grew a screen out of it.

So, how could I put myself in the same category as them, the ‘Writers’? A category I’ve been wanting to belong to since I was little.

But then, I’m reminded that I am a swimmer, even if I don’t swim like Michael Phelps. I am also a Chemist even though I don’t have any Nobel prizes or a fancy element on the table with my name on it.

So, I am a writer.

Even though I have a lot to learn and practice until I am at a level similar to those that I admire, I think we all share a passion for this humble art. And that’s what makes the difference.

But why do we write?

Where does this passion come from?

What makes us want to wake up in the morning, make some coffee and then sit for hours on end in front of a computer pecking away at our keyboard, blurting out every single thought that crosses our mind?

Rereading our hundred drafts, saying goodbye to whole sentences, paragraphs, and yes, even whole articles and chapters because we weren’t quite happy with it. Why some people show their hearts on their sleeves to thousands of people, with no shame or guilt?

Why is it so great to share our ideas, feelings and imaginary words to strangers? Is it due to our big egos? Do we think our minds are so great that they have to occupy a blank page? Do we need other people’s approval of our ideas? Or do we do it in an altruistic way, letting people that otherwise can’t, climb inside our head? Being the voice for those that have a handful of ideas and opinions, but lack the skills or courage to put them into paper?

Do we write for us or do we write for them?

After giving it a lot of thought, I’ve come to the conclusion that we write for five reasons, and you can mix and match as you will.

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To release emotion

Do you know how some people when they are mad they go for a run? Or when they are happy they sing wherever they go? Or when they are sad they put some sad music whilst they drink red wine and cry at their heart’s content?

Well, I think writing is for many of us a way of cathartic release of build-up emotion, tension, energy. Is letting the pressure-cooker that our brains can be sometimes, release it all out into the atmosphere.

Every hit to the space bar gives us back our breath. It is only after we’ve said everything we were holding up that we can put that last period and be able to close our eyes, take a deep breath, and smile because we are back to normal levels.

“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” — Anne Frank

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To show perspective

It doesn’t matter what age group, race, gender or country you are from, we could pick someone else with all the same characteristics and they will have an entirely different perspective than you. Even in this globalized world, with Facebook, Instagram and,even TikTok, where we can see real-time glimpses into everyone’s lives, we still find it hard to understand their opinions. Writers open a window, sometimes a whole door, into their minds so that others can see what goes inside there. Why we think what we think. What we dream of. What we are scared of. How we lived and how we love.

Writing is a form of art that leaves you vulnerable. Others can post pictures of their three meals a day, of their training, of their family or even a video of their sex lives, but nothing will be as raw as what a writer puts in a paper. Seeing what a person looks like naked tells you nothing about the person inside a body. But, reading what the mind thinks, tells you a whole lot about a person. That’s why the things that make history are ideas, not physical. Everything from the French revolution could be burnt, names are forgotten, paintings were thrown out, but liberté, égalité, and fraternité will last for centuries.

Opening this window into our minds, souls and hearts let others share the human experience. Realizing that another human being from another path feels the same as you, or even better, realizing that someone that has lived a very similar life than you has a completely different take on a topic is one of the key gifts that this humble art gives. Any kind of writing will transport the reader to the world of the writer. And the most amazing thing is that you can even visit the worlds of writers that have been dead for many, many centuries. Science hasn’t figured out time traveling yet, we the writers did.

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” — Anais Nin

To bring justice

Some people when they think about writers will think about fiction or science writers, but journalists are a big chunk of the people that dare to be writers. And some of them are key players in how justice works worldwide. They write when something rings the alarms of injustice. But we should all be thankful to those because they are writing to defend those that can’t or won’t write. Not everyone is brave enough to speak up for themselves, let alone write for a cause that might not affect them directly, but journalists do.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ― Maya Angelou

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To bring knowledge

Of course, some writers write because they are so knowledgeable on a topic, that they can condensate years of learning into 400 pages so that those of us that don’t have the time or resources to endure such a long learning path, can still learn from the comfort of their favourite couch.

Doctors, soldiers, historians, scientists, artists, police officers and even entrepreneurs (and many others) that write are unique creatures. Not only are they willing to show the rest of us a shortcut to their craft but they’ve dedicated years and years into mastering something and have such a giving soul that they want their wisdom to be out there. They’ve kept nothing, and given it all.

“Not only is it important to ask questions and find the answers, as a scientist I felt obligated to communicate with the world what we were learning.” ― Stephen Hawking

To simply create beauty

There’s also a special type of writer. The poets and fiction writers write simply to bring beauty into our lives. They make words dance with each other and whole paragraphs morph into song. They create beautiful worlds where we go to escape our bleak reality. They cheer us up, and create characters we fall in love with. They make us cry at how beautiful a landscape is. They make us wish to live in a world like that, without it having to end at the turn of the last page. Those are the real artists in this line of duty. I tip off my hat at them because giving texture and colour to words seems like an impossible task, but they proved that it is possible at every turn of the page.

“Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it.” — Lloyd Alexander

Photo by Carli Jeen on Unsplash

Yes, most of us can write. But the writers are those that feel the burning passion for it. The ones that dream about a new project, and feel the sparks jump in their heart as they start it. The ones that get in the zone and it looks as if their fingers will melt into the keyboard from how fast they go.

It doesn’t matter how far along the way we are.

Some are good. Some are getting there. But we are all typing away in unison as the team that we are. And once we get tired, we’ll brew some more coffee or take a nap, and get back to it.

Because we are writers and that’s what we do.

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