Why Do You Write?

Someone asked me that question a couple weeks ago.  It lead to a lot of head scratching.  Why exactly DO I write?  Hmmmmm......

I write to process stuff that needs processing.  Sometimes bits of that get up-cycled into stories or poems.  Processing stuff is the best tool I have to make me feel better.

I write because an idea will absolutely plague me.  Writing it down is a form of exorcism.

I write because it gives my brain something to do.  Character puzzles to figure out.  Plot dynamics to set into motion and imagine how it turns out.

I write because it gives me a chance to make an ex-bf say what I WISH he had said, to make the world over in a way that pleases me.

I write to fill up the hole and to fill up the whole.

I write because I am addicted to language and writing is the best way to safely express that in our culture. Let's face it, if I use the big words I get the look - ALWAYS!  We somehow expect to encounter words we don't know in reading so they are more OK.

I write because in writing I begin to know myself at the deepest level.

I write because sometimes in the process I touch the divine.

Mostly I write because it is the one constant in my life that brings joy.