Writing as Compulsion
Jan Merry, author of Place of Many Birds
Writing is a compulsion for me, but where does that force within come from, I wonder.
I’ve never tried to explain it before, but perhaps it stems from reading. Librarians and teachers of literacy often express a desire for youngsters to “discover the joys of reading.” I’m guessing that joy of reading is behind my urge to write.
It is not a desire to recreate the great writers (as if) but to recreate the feeling reading those writers gave me – a feeling of entering a different world, a subconscious world, an imaginary world. From those earliest days of my own literacy, I was able to enter other lives, whether it be from the simple story lines and characters of school books or my mother’s magazines, which seemed always to feature stories about exotic lives lived on tea plantations in Ceylon or India. Reading was mind-expanding and other-worldly. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, read when I was a child in Australia, opened a door to a world that has never been shut, as did Heidi, the story of the little girl who lives with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps.
Place of Many Birds, a novel by Jan Merry
In retrospect, the revelation of the inner lives of those and other characters, had a profound impact and influences the way I write and what I write about.
Then there is inspiration. When I first read Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, I remember closing the last page and thinking, “Wow, how did he do that?” It was one of those profoundly moving novels that imprint themselves on the psyche; long after you’ve forgotten the plot details, you remember that moment of revelation: this writer is different to everyone I have read before. I think it inspired me in many ways to want to be a writer. Not so much to “write” like Faulkner, but to recreate the moment. It’s hard to explain.
Writers come fairly quickly to the realisation they will not reach parity with the great writers of literature, but that doesn’t stop them persisting, perhaps in a desire to find “the moment,” or in an attempt to clarify their thoughts.
As Faulkner said, ”I never know what I think about something until I read what I’ve written on it.”
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Jan Merry is a fiction and feature writer, published throughout Australia and the United Kingdom. She can be found on BlogSpot, GoodReads, and on Twitter. Her novel, Place of Many Birds, is available on Amazon.
Category: Being a Writer, Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing
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- Featuring Women Writers on WWWB 2013 - Women Writers, Women Books | December 31, 2013
I think really writing, taking this as a calling/lifework is something you must do, but unlike compulsions, it has a purpose which results in creating something new. I can’t get enough, but I have to write. I hear what you are saying and it rings true. But there’s nothing wrong with dedication, perseverance, etc…. good compulsions?
Hi Mary. I think for me writing is all those things too. I feel compelled to write. I have to sit at my desk and write, even just a little, every day. Dedication and perseverance are what follows the initial jottings and both are essential for success, I have found. Writing is a lot of hard work but rewarding if you are satisfied with the end product. Thank you for your comment. Food for thought.
I think you raise a very interesting question! You know, I don’t know the answer for myself. I think that it is like an addiction to the high I get when I’ve written something I like. I’m always going for the next high, I think. Metaphorically speaking! 🙂
~MM
Thank you for your comments, MM Finck, which I have just seen. A little late I know but I have been away from a computer for some time travelling. I like your observation that writing is a kind of addiction. Just can’t seem to stay away from it at times, even when it is not going particularly well.
Great post Jan. Can so relate to what you’re saying. I loved Heidi as a child too – haven’t thought of her for many years and I remember being blown away by The Sound And The fury when I read it at Uni. As a writer I love to escape into the pages just as I do when reading. Look forward to reading your book – sounds beautiful.
Hi Pamela. I love your Flying Pony Blog and the whole idea of how you came to choose that title. I also admire Les Murray’s poetry. His insights into country life remind me of Frost only I relate to Murray rather than Frost. Thank you for your comments.
Beautiful piece, so many of your lines gave me angel bumps (goosebumps); the chill of recognition.
“Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, read when I was a child in Australia, opened a door to a world that has never been shut.”
“It is not a desire to recreate the great writers (as if) but to recreate the feeling reading those writers gave me.”
“The revelation of the inner lives of those and other characters, had a profound impact and influences the way I write and what I write about.”
“When I first read Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, I remember closing the last page and thinking, ‘Wow, how did he do that?’ ”
Thank you very much for sharing your essay with us. What a treat.
[Personally I was 55 when I first read the famous, The Old Man and the Sea, and that was a wow moment for me. No wonder people have been talking about it for decades. Now I’m going to have to read The Sound and the Fury!]
Currently Barbara Bos @chicaderock, who is our voice on Twitter this year, has a post inviting our favorite quotes by women. Your moment reading The Sound and the Fury is so powerful, so pivotal. It’s that kind of potent writing that we’re looking to find out about and give light to by female authors. If you’ve had that experience with a woman writer also, we would love to invite an essay about that as well.
– Anora McGaha, Editor, Women Writers, Women Books
Thank you so much for your generous response. I would love to write more about the female writers who’ve inspired me. Some of my early inspiration came from women writers who wrote under male pen-names. The Bronte sisters were published as Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell, George Eliot was really Mary Ann Evans and Louisa May Alcott, wanting to be taken seriously published as A M Barnard. I love the way your site provides a forum for female writers and we no longer have to write under male pseudonyms.
Really enjoyed Place of many birds more please
loved “place of many birds” great insight into early Australia
I could smell the gum leaves and hear the cockatoos.MORE PLEASE
Thank you Deidre for your response. I love reading about Australia as I live in London and I think being away from home makes you very aware of the sounds, sights and smells of the places where you grew up.
Compulsion – yes, but such a joy! Occasionally, when I’m facing a blank screen and wonder why I’m doing this, I contemplate stopping. Look at all that wonderful time I’d have to … um … er … there’s nothing else that gives me such a deep sense of satisfaction, of knowing who I am.
Dear Jo, I too often find myself staring at the blank screen waiting for some magical phrase to pop out of my head. That doesn’t happen but I find if I start with a few words, eventually it becomes clear what it is I’m trying to say and it’s only then that words start to flow a little more freely. I agree with you, writing is hard work but there’s nothing quite as satisfying. Thank you for your response.
Yes! You’ve hit the proverbial nail on the head! I relate immensely to your urge to write coming from your urge to read. I too have escaped into many a world penned by another – and have often stopped sometimes in awe. I ask the question you’ve asked – “How do they do that?” I suppose that is one of the ultimate goals of every writer in some way or another – to succeed in transporting readers into another world and them getting lost in it. May you have many readers ‘lost’ in your words!
Thank you for your kind words, Holly. It’s nice to know I’m not alone. In this day and age when we are bombarded with pictures, movies, video, instagrams and so on, thank goodness we can still enjoy the visual imagery inside our heads that comes with reading.
Jan, you are right- just because I don’t have a smart phone, or I pad , or fancy technology- I can read my wonderful books, poetry and we always have our imagination!! thanks for sharing what you did.Eileen
Hello Eileen. I agree with you, technology seems to get in the way of creativity. We’re surrounded with images and noise leaving less and less room for imaginative thought. I still write a first draft in long hand, jotting down ideas as they come, before later transferring to computer.Thank you for your comments.