Why I Write

I write because I have to write.

No one is forcing me to write anything. I have no deadlines to meet. I don’t have to do any of this. But I write because I have to write.

I write better than I speak. If I sound well spoken, it’s only because I’ve already written about it. If I speak about something before I write, I pause, I stammer, I lose my train of thought and I have to stare off in to space to formulate sentences in my head before they come out of my mouth. My mouth doesn’t move as quickly as my brain does, but my typing fingers can usually keep up.

Writing helps me sort out what is buzzing around in my brain at all hours of the day and night. In the morning, I think about writing while I dry my hair. I think about character development as I put on my makeup. I think about things I’ve read the previous day as I drive to work. I write ‘to do’ lists. During the day, I think in terms of pieces of writing. I turn something that a coworker said into a line of dialogue in a story. I think in metaphors. When I sit down to write after a long day, it comes easy because I’ve already written the sentences in my head. Before I sleep, if I’m especially distracted, I write. It needs to get out – whether it is in the form of a list or sentences or just random words – it just needs to get out before I can shut down for the day. Words and sentences and thoughts are in my head and they need to be put on paper.

I write because I have to write.