Why Writers Write

    Some of today’s experts will tell you that all of us are born writers, which is as absurd as stating, “Anyone can run a four-minute mile.” Words for a writer effervesce like bubbles in a flute of champagne—they must rise to the surface.  There’s no holding them back.  Of course, each of us can labor through an essay or pen a letter to a friend, but in order to truly connect with a reader and draw them in requires an innate ability of the writer to create a relationship with and captivate his audience. 

    The proficiency to write well cannot be taught.  The original writing seed must be planted for it to be cultivated to reach its full potentiality.  Good writing flows from a writer like water cascading over a waterfall—it is breathtaking, powerful and memorable.

    Writing is a writer’s passion, her mistress and her most primal need.  It cannot be ignored.  It must be acknowledged, courted and acted upon.  Just as we must intake air to survive, writing is the oxygen that fuels a writer’s body, spirit and mind—quite literally, it is what keeps us sane. 

    A writer’s mind incessantly overflows with ideas.  We cannot scribe them quickly enough.  By acknowledging what we have to say, we release the pressure, which pulses within us.  Consider the contents of a soda can.  If the can is shaken enough, its contents will expand to the point where the can will literally explode.  Unwritten words for a writer are like the contents of that shaken can—eventually they too will force their way out. It is our obligation as writers to allow the words to be written.  We must not silence them.  We are governed by what we pen—we would have it no other way. 

    We write out of necessity, but also out of the desire to teach, to connect and to inspire.  Although some may find our stories trite and insignificant, to others they may be life altering.  That is why we write; for the opportunity to make a reader understand, smile, laugh or cry.  This done, we have truly served our mistress—the written word.