Sunday, November 25, 2007
Why I Write
Read the essay "Why I Write," which is available through a link on the lower right hand corner of this page. Respond to it with comments on why you write. Is it for the same reasons Orwell cites? Didion? Kessler? Your comments are due before the start of our last class, Wednesday, Dec. 5.
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Why do I write? I ask myself that question often. At first it was something I did because I’d get bored, but it has grown into a passionate desire. Writing is my favorite and gifted way of expressing me. Some people say “I can show you better than I can tell you,” well I say, “I can write it better than I can say it.” I write because no one can judge me while I’m writing, criticism mostly comes after all is said and done. I write to express a perspective in which I think people should be aware of; my perspective. I definitely think the reason I write has much to do with my self-confidence, ego, and the joy I have while creating such art. Lauren Kessler stated, “The power to transmit ideas is the power to change the world.” That’s a very powerful statement because most people are empowered by what they read, and that is my intention. I write to empower people, to get my point across in an artistic and unique form, as well as encourage them to understand the creation of my words. On top of that, I love my handwriting, it’s inspirational.
After reading Danielle's straight-from-the-heart comments, it occurs to me that I should also ask whether your reasons for writing have changed at all over the course of the semester. Well, have they?
I began writing out of pure inspiration from things I had read. I would read something, a book, a poem, a song lyric, and I would feel a very powerful emotion from it and think to myself "Wow, wouldn't it be nice if I could do that for someone?" I think this falls in line with Orwell's "aesthetic enthusiasm." It is amazing, to me, that the proper arangement of words can become something that can change the way a person thinks or views the world. I guess this is the main reason why I write. Another reason for writing, which I related to in this essay was Kessler's feeling of being "intensely curious about...well, about most everything." Writing is a way to work out the understandings, or misunderstandings, of your experiences, which are completely unique for every individual. Kessler stated, "I write to learn." Well, I've learned a lot from things that I have read, and I like the idea of someone learning from something that I have written. I guess when it comes down to it, everyone's got a different story to tell, so why not tell it? Though I am aware of my reasons for writing, it is the telling that has sometimes left me stuck. My writing has developed, I hope, throughout the course of this class because I've learned that for writing to have a truly profound effect, it does not have to be complicated or elevated. In fact, it is often with the complete oppossite techniques that ideas come off most powerfully. I've learned, grudgingly, that I am not Crane or Thompson or Herr, but, I can learn from them and ideally, create something that will have the effect for someone else as what they created had on me.
My world of writing began soon after coming to the appalling realization that I suck at most other things pertaining to school. It wasn't that I completely sucked at everything, but the realization that writing came easier to me than most mind-engaging activities stood for something. Turns out it stood for the first time I really identified myself as a "writer." Before, I was purely a "reader," and admirer of the writer.
I like writing because writing is (for the most part) enjoyably un-tedious (if I can make up a word). It comes easier to me than most things, I think, because of my reading as a young'n. Every night I read before falling asleep, and every night I fell asleep into whatever world I had been reading of. How other authors got their thoughts down on the page translated into my own eventual reflective version, and my own writing. Take into account that I wasn't good enough at soccer to go pro, and you've roughly got my writing roots.
There's no doubt my view on writing over the years--even in this semester alone--has changed. It is not nearly as selfish as what I typed above. It is rather much more in compliance with what Kessler said in her article: I write to learn. I've learned a lot of stuff while playing around with words and styles this semester, and found that most of the time valuable lessons can be gained both inside and outside of the realm of your subject matter, whatever it may be.
What I REALLY like about writing right now is that I never know where it's going next. I've learned that my writing revolves around a certain spontaneity that I can't entirely achieve in my daily life. For instance, I HAVE to hand in my graduation papers in real life, but what if on the way to do so, a purple beaver monkey from Sri Lanka fell from the branches...
Really, a dumb example, but that's what writing is to me--a temporary ticket to a place that isn't necessarily on a collision course with real-world responsibility.
I write for a lot of reasons. I think the main ones are Orwell's "historical impulse" and "political purpose" because I have some pretty strong opinions. Writing is my best way of, well, imposing my ideas because I can take my time, think everything out, and even show my reader the point rather than tell it or debate it. I'm just not good at those more argumentative mediums.
I also write because I just like to tell a good story. I really love to get an audience in the middle of a party and see how long I can keep their attention with a terrible shaggy dog story. Writing is an extension of that, and I guess it has something to do with Kessler's idea of being immortal through your written words.
As far as change this semester goes, I'd say that my motivations have DEFINITELY changed. Coming into this semester, I was totally unmotivated, having spent last year taking lame GE classes and spending my free time on... unproductive pursuits. I think the reasons I wrote about above were still there then, but it wasn't until this semester that I realized them, thanks to the combination of taking serious classes and spending my time more productively, using my mind instead of altering it.
And, I do enjoy writing. It's fun, it's unrestrictive, and it's something I like to think I'm not too bad at. I can't really imagine doing anything else for the rest of my life.
I have this theory on the purpose of life. I have no idea why, as a whole, humans exist, but I think that we each have an individual reason for being. I think that we are here to affect as many people around us as possible. We can't all be famous, and we can't all be recognized as heroes. We can, however, all teach, support, and inspire. Maybe those people we do touch can change the world. That's how I think of writing sometimes. It's my way of communicating to the world. When I read something that inspires me, or provokes emotion I want to be able to do the same thing to someone else.
What I've learned from this class is that it doesn't take an unattainable amount of skill to be a writer. Yes, of course it requires a bit of knowledge, practice, and natural ability, but its mostly about honesty. Writing the truth is almost gaurenteed to affect people.
I write because I have trouble expressing myself in any other way. Aside from being socially awkward, I can barely carry a conversation and could never win an argument. If I write what I feel, I can express my emotions, opinions, ideas, etc. more eloquently and passionately. With writing, I can take my time. I can express what I really want to say. No one can interrupt me, intimidate me, or make me question or hide what I think and feel. As far as who I agree with most, I would have to say Didion. "In many ways writing is the act of saying I, of imposing oneself upon other people, of saying listen to me, see it my way, change your mind. It’s an aggressive, even a hostile act." I can't speak in this agressive LISTEN TO ME tone, but I can certainly write that way. Writing can be all about you if you want it to be. My reasons for writing have changed over the course of the semester in that I've actually decided to make sense of what I write, organize it into something with "style" and try to find some sort of purpose or big meaning in the seemingly random rants in a notebook.
I write to learn. When I first started writing I wrote to put my ideas on paper but now I write to see what I can learn from what I put on that paper. Writing is the most introspective exercise: better than thinking because you have time to organize and order. Looking on something you wrote is looking at a completely different thing than what you had in your head while writing; it turns into a completely different animal. Of the reasons in Kessler's essay I would say that besides writing to learn, I aim to make art with my words, to paint an image that only I could paint, to express what only I can express. My point of view is (I like to think) unique and a bit weird and to make people see things my way would be quite an accomplishment. I haven't been able to do this through other types of persuasion, except for writing, in which Kessler says that we, as writers, do impose on the reader.
The answer to the question “why I write” (assuming the question refers to what I write on my own time and not for any sort of school or work related task) is a rather simple one: I enjoy it. I’ve never been one to advertise or attempt to publish anything I’ve written because the enjoyment for me is in telling, not in having been heard. I don’t expect that anything I’ve written would interest many people; in fact, most people who are smarter than I am find some of the things that I have found boring, self pitying, or downright terrible to be among the greatest works done by some of the greatest writers. It seems logical to me that these smart guys would hate what I’ve written.
In any case, I don’t write for any sort of recognition. Gaining the approval of others for the things that I do has never been important to me. Criticism, good or bad, would have little to no effect on the way I write because, until this class, I never considered publication. Writing to me is therapeutic, and a technique that allows me to be creative in a way that no other form of art can.
Bob Ross had a PBS show called “The Joy of Painting.” It would have changed his love for painting insignificantly, if at all, if he learned of the snobbish disdain with which he was regarded by art professors at schools like Purchase. I’ll continue to write for myself with or without recognition, as Bob Ross likely would have continued painting…though, unlike Bob Ross, I doubt I’ll ever have my own show, or a hairdo half as cool as his.
I think the biggest reason for writing cited in this piece that I relate to is writing for "aesthetic enthusiasm" or "creating art of out language." I absolutely love the feeling I get when I write a paragraph or a sentence or even a phrase that just sounds nice to my ears. Writing is a craft, and it's fulfilling to piece words together to attempt to build a piece of art.
A lot of my friends are art students, (specifically painters) and over the course of the semester we've discussed how art is completely relative, meaning someone can look at a piece of artwork and see a masterpiece while another person looks at it and thinks "this is a piece of shit." While they've been struggling with this, I've come to realize that good writing is much easier to appreciate than something like a painting or a sculpture. Personal aesthetic is still applied when reading, but I don't think anyone can debate the merit and strength in the work of someone like Didion. I guess this idea is kind of soothing--not everyone has to appreciate what you have to say, but they can appreciate how you say it and how you craft your writing.
Lastly, I'd be lying if I said "sheer egoism" doesn't come into play in my writing. Everyone wants to hear their writing is good. They want praise, and I'm no different, except when I'm writing something that's just for me and that I know no one else will see.
Though a lot of people would like to think that they're writing for a greater purpose, I tend to think otherwise about my own writing. Most of the themes I deal with in the majority of my writing have to do with self-examination, or some other (usually internal) individual conquest.
I write because it gives me something to look back on as I go through my life. My writing serves as a reminder to myself of why I hold on to certain beliefs or ideas, and conversely, it sometimes tells me which ones I should let go of.
I also write because it helps solidify the chaotic whirl of thoughts that dart about aimlessly in my head. If I get a brilliant idea one night, I have to write it down or it'll be gone in a few hours - without a trace. But once I write it down, whether I read it again or not, I have a much better chance of remembering it, because I have repeated the thought in a coherent manner. The idea will become tangible as it is stamped into word form, and while it becomes legitimate to me, I hope that does so in others' eyes as well.
Writing in one's own voice can help to solidify the personality behind it. In my particular case, as I write out more of my ideas, thoughts, questions, etc., I become more aware of my own personality, and thusly more confident in myself. In short, it reminds me that I exist.
I've considered this question for a long time, and honestly found the reason simply changes. We may start out for our own benefit, in finding our voice, but soon we are looking at other ways and reasons to write.
I started with simply finding my way across a page easier than through speaking. Then I hind in the page, thinking that a life in solitude is less cruel.
Now I walk the line between Orwell's and Didion's thought process. I urn to transform the page, not into an oasis, but a piece of art;like finding your own distinction. In doing so though, it also becomes the desire for becoming timeless. To set in stone history, from your perspective, and make people listen. Kessler was right, "The power to transmit ideas is the power to change the world."
But in the end, even if I don't want to admit it, I do write for myself. It's after all my hopes and my dreams of being paid, revered, and remembered for writing. Or at least that is why I write, for now.
I've considered this question for a long time, and honestly found the reason simply changes. We may start out for our own benefit, in finding our voice, but soon we are looking at other ways and reasons to write.
I started with simply finding my way across a page easier than through speaking. Then I hind in the page, thinking that a life in solitude is less cruel.
Now I walk the line between Orwell's and Didion's thought process. I urn to transform the page, not into an oasis, but a piece of art;like finding your own distinction. In doing so though, it also becomes the desire for becoming timeless. To set in stone history, from your perspective, and make people listen. Kessler was right, "The power to transmit ideas is the power to change the world."
But in the end, even if I don't want to admit it, I do write for myself. It's after all my hopes and my dreams of being paid, revered, and remembered for writing. Or at least that is why I write, for now.
My honest first impulse is to say that I write because of some strange mix between sheer egoism and aesthetic enthusiasm. I certainly spend time writing because I like feeling clever when I look at the results of my labor. And certainly enjoy the craft of it,shaping language to make it fit your purpose. But it's also something more then that. When it's at it's best my writing has always been an expression of who I am. That very simple thing seems to make it all worthwhile. It's not just that I write a story and find myself putting bits of me into it, though that is certainly an appealing side of it. What pushes me to write is that when I'm at my best my writing reveals to me who and what defines me as a person.
There's never just one reason for a writer to write and that's true of me as well. The other true joy of writing, almost as much as the personal aspects of it, is it's ability to make you feel totally and completely free. Writing allows you to play at creator and that makes you feel a type of freedom that you rarely ever can.
I write because of how it makes me feel. When I write something that I want to write it's exhilarating. It feels good for me to write. I think my pulse actually increases. When I first started really 'writing' it was because I was inspired my the authors I read, I wanted to write stories, I read constantly and I wanted to contribute to what I really enjoyed. I feel like writing is a way of informing people and I love to do that, if I've learned something I want to tell as many people as I can as soon as possible because it might be of use to them, writing allows what would be one conversation with a few people to be a silent conversation with many. Mostly though, as cheesy as it is, writing too me is the closest thing to magic. You make stuff happen in other peoples heads, and if successful, make them see what you see. Thats just good fun in my book.
As an early writer—long ago when not everyone was a writer—I never understood why I felt an unquenchable thirst to put pen to paper. I never questioned the reasons why the need existed only that it did exist, and with that, I would simply write. In today's world, I find everyone wants to question your motive. I write because it defines me--it is as simple as that.
As an early writer—long ago when not everyone was a writer—I never understood why I felt an unquenchable thirst to put pen to paper. I never questioned the reasons why the need existed only that it did exist, and with that, I would simply write. In today's world, I find everyone wants to question your motive. I write because it defines me--it is as simple as that.
As an early writer—long ago when not everyone was a writer—I never understood why I felt an unquenchable thirst to put pen to paper. I never questioned the reasons why the need existed only that it did exist, and with that, I would simply write. In today's world, I find everyone wants to question your motive. I write because it defines me--it is as simple as that.
As an early writer—long ago when not everyone was a writer—I never understood why I felt an unquenchable thirst to put pen to paper. I never questioned the reasons why the need existed only that it did exist, and with that, I would simply write. In today's world, I find everyone wants to question your motive. I write because it defines me--it is as simple as that.
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