Why do I write?
I have several answers:
1. The Mythic. I was born to write, I started writing as a child, I write to express, to connect, and to understand the world. To explore the beauty of language. To extend the boundaries of the self.
2. The Slacker. I like a lifestyle that lets me get up late, hang around the house, read, stare into space, and get to say “I’m working.”
3. The Buddhist. I write because it is easy and pleasant for me. I hardly ever suffer when I’m writing. If I started suffering a lot, I’d just quit. Life has dealt me problems enough.
4. The Practical. I’m not good at many things–I’m a mediocre cook, a bad snow driver, my bad right leg means I can’t handle a job that requires me to stand. I know how to write. And I can do it sitting down.
5. The Lover. I want you to fall in love with what I love. And I want you to love me.
All of these things are true. And sometimes not. That is why I write.
BIO: Miriam Sagan is the author of over 25 books. She founded and runs the creative writing program at Santa Fe Community College. In 2010, she was awarded the Santa Fe Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. She blogs at Miriam’s Well.
Photo credit: Matt Morrow
Miriam – I love your post. I am a composer/songwriter/poet new to the SF area. I am only about 5 years into writing poetry and prose and continue to write music.
I write poetry because the piece that emerges, quickly most times, has hunted me down and found me. It is like weather that moves in. Inspiration is from experiences but frequently is from something that I overhear. Or that is said to me in conversation.
That sentence becomes the name of the poem. For example, a young woman on a plane told me she was going to NY to break up with her bf because he was “brilliant but broken”. I said “what did you say?” I wrote the piece in the terminal and emailed to her for fun.
I probably should have more of a tiered, organized rationale, like yours above, but don’t. It is the world stopping me that starts the piece.
Thanks for this post and to Meg for sending it my way. JUD
Appreciate your reading–thank you! My organized rationale comes AFTER many years of just messing around…