Why I Write

It was in the September of 2009 that I got stuck with an idea. I decided to create a blog. At that time, it felt that this venture would soon fade away too. However, looking back now, I see that I have stayed faithful to this idea. I wrote sixteen posts in the next four months of the year 2009. Since then I have published close to hundred posts on my blog with another forty a work in progress.

A few days back while writing a post I began to wonder why I write. A rather stupid notion at the start but it soon began to evolve into a painful migraine in my head. I had to find an answer that could satisfy my thirst of sanity for my mind. Thus began my journey through the reasons people write. The best place to start is to see if people who write have gone through a similar phase as well.

Writing an Act of Optimism

I found the answer rather easily! I was browsing through the headlines of The Economists on my Flipboard. An article that was published on June 26th 2012 caught my wavering eye. It said - Richard Ford: Writing is an act of optimism. That was my ‘Aha’ moment. I haven't read any of Mr. Ford's novels. However the headline was enough for me to read further. He said, "To write about darker possible things are acts of optimism". To me to write about anything implies an act of optimism (some may say a form of blind optimism).

So writing gives me a chance to feel like an optimist? Yes, that makes a lot of sense. It was like these ideas were already there but on a day they decided to come out into this crazy world. The decision to stick with an idea long enough is an act of optimism. It is too easy to discard an idea. However it takes a bit of hope, a pinch of foolishness and whole lot of drafting to create a post. The result was something I can call my own. Still not convinced I decided to jot down a few reasons of my own and here they are:

Reason 1 - For Self-therapy

A while back I wrote a piece on introvert-ism. The quality that distinguishes an introvert from others is the desire to play with ideas by themselves. I can spend an hour thinking and writing about an idea; most likely with an uncertain end. Writing helps me to think clearly. In my childhood, I used to write down again and again until I could “mug it up”. Maybe that's how I got into the habit of writing! Even now when I feel discombobulated (I wanted to use this word after hearing Brad Pitt use it in an interview) I jot down a few bullet points. It helps me to get my thoughts straight. So writing is a form of self-therapy for me.

Reason 2 - To be Bold

An article or a blog-post or a few scribbles on a piece of paper tell a story. It is a story about a set of orphan thoughts that arose from a situation and became a family. There is always a beginning and an end. But not many decide to tell their story. It is easy to be a critique than be creative. I respect writers because they have decided to present their thoughts to the world. Whether anyone like it or not is their own decision to make. Nevertheless at the end of the day a writer lays his or her most barest of thoughts in front of others. This requires a lot of mental courage.

Reason 3 - Write to Create
The simplest of reason I write is that creating an article bring immense satisfaction. To think, a few moments ago this was just a vague thought in the mind. Now it is a chain of words that make sense (at least to me!). Strangely, I caught a line from a song today - it's not a destination, it's a creation I desire (from the song Save Your Best Bits by The Parlotones). I don't think I need to say anymore but being a writer I'll have to! I write to create, an emotion sought by many but pursued by a few.