At a New Year’s Eve party, someone asked if I’m writing lately. I said yes, I’m always writing. The next day, I decided to sit down for 10 minutes to explore the reason for my answer. Writing nonstop for 10 minutes on the topic turned out to be another good example of how writing lets us dig deeper and find out what we really think about something.
I share that writing here with you, writer to writer. I hope it inspires you to write for 10 minutes on the topic and give words to the reasons YOU write.
I write because it’s my first language. I write because it’s the way I understand my life. I write to look into the big small stuff that would otherwise slip by unnoticed. I write because it can take what’s true and make it truer. I write to communicate with others. I write to talk to myself. I write because colors matter to me, and scents do, tastes do, and so do the feel of things. I write for the pleasure in finding words that say how I feel. I write for the challenge of finding words that say what I think. I write to let those words sail in sometimes. I sift through piles of sand for them at other times, closing my fingers around just the right one. I write to make sense of things. I write to spend time with my best friend. I write to see more clearly. I write to find new angles, dimensions that appear in what would otherwise lie flat. I write to animate and from a safe distance live again a few of the millions of memories that will go to the grave with me, wish weeds in the wind. I write to slow time down by paying attention. I write because beauty astounds me. I write because it’s how I translate experience into a language I can understand. I write to travel anywhere. I write because time flies by. I write to be a ghost passing through walls. I write to lose myself. I write to find myself. I write to keep time from catching up with me. I write to be aware of time as it’s passing. I write to go more slowly and see what’s here. I write because I’m shy. I write because I’m outgoing. I write because I’m in love with solitude. I write because it’s second nature to me. Writing is air, water, and sunlight. I write because imagination is real to me. I write for the relief there is in the blend of what’s real and what’s imagined. I write to know what I think. I write because I don’t know what else to do sometimes with the beauty and the horror that is here.
About Suzanne
I’m dedicated to helping writers put their good words into the world.
– Suzanne Sherman
Writing Consultant & Coach
Memoir Workshops
2 thoughts on “Have you written lately? Here’s Suzanne Sherman’s inspiring response!”
I write with purpose. I’m going on 78 and feel an urgency to write and publish what’s rolling around in my head before I die! I also want to find JOY in every day, and writing brings me joy. Wishing that for you, Writers!
Hurray for you! So happy to hear that writing brings you joy. Me too!