Some people go to gyms, we sit at a keyboard and write. Why the exercise? An article I recently posted, "The Value of Writing," raises interesting points about the reasons for writing. A friend of mine started journaling back in college and as far as I know continues to this day five decades later. I never asked him why, figuring it might be too personal and I have a strong built-in resistance to what I fear is butting in to someone else's life, but why do we as authors write? To earn a living, practice a hobby, to entertain, vent, get personal satisfaction when others find meaning or joy in our words? My own reasons: I get tremendous satisfaction putting down on paper my characters' experiences, challenges, and emotions, right down to coming up with their names. From time to time, I open to a random page in the books I have written, whether in print or I hope to be, and read back my sentences (and overcoming the urge to tweak them), sometimes laughing at the situations, sometimes pleased at how I was able to arrange a bad thing turn out good or a good thing turn out bad because, after all, as literary creators we can have things turn out any way we want. There is no arrogance in that. If I put my name on something for the world to see (or at least a dozen or two readers if that's to be the case) I want it to be good. For sure, I want others to find value in my writing, otherwise I'd put the manuscripts on the shelf and not bother with the exercise of self-publishing or the disappointment of agents and publishers rejecting my work. But I believe that once you start writing you may take breaks but never really stop. Just the fact that I am blogging this on a gorgeous overcast winter day when I could be doing a lot of other things (yes, I do have a life, and p.s. I also love clouds) proves my point, I suppose.
