What is it about writing?
From feather quill to fountain pens to ball point pens to keyboards.
Some people hate to write.
We know there are many many different reasons why that might be. I could name a few:
- Their fine motor skills weren’t ready yet when they were forced to write in school, creating a bad experience
- Their mind flooded with information when they tried to write
- Their mind blanked out when they tried to write
- Someone was very critical of their writing, so it was easier just to not be able to write
But some of us love to write.
To write is like riding a bike, or running, or taking pictures, or basking in the sun. To write is like eating your favorite food, or watching a show, or listening to music.
Some of us have to write. If we don’t get time with ourselves to listen to the words and sounds we string together, explaining, dreaming, remembering, playing, we really get unhappy, irritable, unsettled.
For some writing is about using a pen, a beautiful special pen. For others it’s also about the paper, quality paper. Yet for others its about the fast keying of letters on a keyboard, watching the sentences pour out of the screen.
There is something about writing. The big thing is to figure out what. And if you don’t want to write, and don’t have to, have at it! If you have to write and can’t, find someone you trust who can write and have them mentor you for a while. And if you love to write but aren’t writing – what’s with that? What would you like to do about? If you really are blocked, then find someone you trust and get their guidance.
What would you say about writing? The conversation has just begun.
Category: On Writing
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I just love that thing where you forget where you are while you’re writing and you’re really ‘in the zone’.
I’m happiest when I’m writing. I love creating worlds and characters, riding the waves of their struggle and thinking up ever worse storms to throw at them until we all make it to safe harbour and have a well-deserved cup of tea (or something stronger if it’s been a particularly arduous journey).
I suppose there is also a certain amount of ritual as well. For me, I have to plan on paper using a special pen, then I start putting all my ideas onto the computer. I might be writing one story, then a line of dialogue or an idea for a blog will pop into my brain so I have to search for my pen and go back to making notes again. I’ve tried various computer programs to ‘organise’ my notes but the best method for me is still the good old pen and paper!
Words, phrases, sentences, concepts just burst into my mind—sometimes at the most inopportune times (meaning when I don’t have a pen or a computer or recorder) like in the shower, when driving, when sleeping, when taking a walk. I repeat them over and over so I don’t lose them, but I’m not happy until I write them down. These become a collection of musings either on my little notebook in the bathroom (to capture shower thoughts) or even on a tissue box in the car. One of my kids grabbed a tissue on a recent road trip and wondered what all of the notes were on the tissue box. It was the only thing I had in the car to write on, so I pulled over when I had one of those thoughts that I just had to capture and scribbled it on the box. Sometimes I use them right away, sometimes I just archive them for a later piece. But, the important thing is that I didn’t let them escape.
How many of us can relate to the quest to capture the perfect phrase, or inspiration! Fun story about the notes on the tissue box in the car. It’s true that if we miss writing something down, it may never come back. Thanks for sharing a comment here Cindy.
Just reading this had me thinking back to the first time I could remember writing. I can easily say since I could speak. I told oral stories to my family and friends whether they liked it or not! Then mastering the alphabet and all those block letters came about. After that, I was off! I can safely say (apologetically, of course) that I single-handledly killed off an entire forest by the time I was twelve. I’m going to submit a guest blog to go on, but I can safely say that writing is like life and breath to me.
You had it in you from the get go. Love this sentence, “I can safely say that writing is like life and breath to me.”
I write for many reasons, but for me it is also an important way of processing thoughts and emotions as I try to understand something. In speech it is easier to throw out a number of words to explain yourself, editing and rephrasing immediately the words are spoken, depending upon the reactions of the person you are speaking to. Your meaning can get lost in one of the edits. When I write I choose the words carefully; I enjoy the selection process. When I speak about emotional matters I sometimes feel that my words dissolve into the air – I am unable to see them and I can’t feel the weight of what I’ve said. But in writing I can see the narrative unfold as I add to the words I have already set down.
Thank you for starting this site!
Sara, you’ve touched on a precious topic – writing as a means for knowing. Beautiful comment, beautifully said, beautiful insight. Thank you for your appreciation! Your comment makes a difference.
I’m delighted to have found this blog on twitter, and have shared it with friends. What a great amalgamation of women’s minds. I am a mother to three young sons, and have found their creative processes, whether writing, painting, or performing, stymied by perceived late development (compared to girls the same age) self-doubt, culture, and peer pressure. Much of my writing has been to engage and encourage my sons. We’ll see how it goes!
Thanks for your comment here Jennifer. Just register and submit a post if you’d like to explore what you’re doing with your writing to engage and encourage your sons.
Would love to. Thanks for the opportunity. Off to write…