Comments on: Why Do We Write? Artistry, Identity, And Legacy

By: dholcomb1

dholcomb1 — Mon, 18 May 2020 04:13:00 +0000

It's my calling. I write because I'm compelled to do it. From the time I was a young girl, I've always found writing to be my outlet, my talent, my love. denise

By: Jenny Hansen

Jenny Hansen — Sun, 17 May 2020 02:15:42 +0000

I'm all about the legacy, and the writing we leave behind. While I enjoy the process of writing (at least a little bit), I much prefer to "have written." The biggest problem for me is I like to be paid for my writing, like fairly quickly. I can do that in my day job, but not in my fiction life. Nothing happens quickly in a fiction life. So, I find myself writing much more non-fiction on a day-to-day basis.

By: barbaralinnprobst

barbaralinnprobst — Sat, 16 May 2020 11:24:32 +0000

I feel the same way! Witnessing those "unexpected" turns and moments that appear is one of the magical parts of the process for me. They often come to m in the early hours of the morning or in the shower, when my brain is relaxed and I can—just as you say—allow something to be born. I'd almost say that this experience is why I write ...

By: Ken Saik

Ken Saik — Sat, 16 May 2020 03:02:55 +0000

I love the act of giving birth to something new, then nurturing it and watching it grow. The surprises that one gets from seeing something develop in unexpected ways is like watching a child finds own identify.

By: barbaralinnprobst

barbaralinnprobst — Fri, 15 May 2020 18:52:36 +0000

In reply to ecellenb. Ah yes ... when the characters won't leave you alone! Sometimes the impulse comes from me (as you say, to help or share or impart something) and sometimes it comes from the characters, through me ...

By: ecellenb

ecellenb — Fri, 15 May 2020 18:46:48 +0000

Wonderful post. I write to be helpful, to teach, and sometimes because the characters won't leave me alone. Life is never dull.

By: barbaralinnprobst

barbaralinnprobst — Fri, 15 May 2020 16:42:15 +0000

Thank you, Gill! You put it so well. You were always a storyteller, even when you were small. You feel like "less of yourself" when you're not writing. It's clearly a calling. For some, it's a call they aren't able to answer until later in life—when children are grown, for example—yet the sense of a call is very clear.

By: Gill Otto

Gill Otto — Fri, 15 May 2020 15:52:04 +0000

Thank you! An interesting and timely summary of issues around our identities and motivation for writing. Good to be reminded of the pleasure and compulsion to write. Writing has always been a huge part of my identity - working on some autiobiographical fragments during Camp NaoNoWriMo, I realized that even before I wrote down my stories, I was a story teller. My childhood drawings were also part of an ongoing story too - they were not just of horses, but of particular (imaginary) horses, with names, in a storm, or stable, I feel kind of unmoored and less of myself when, as now, I cannot write. Wishing you every success with your book - love the title!