Friday, May 18, 2012

Ten Reasons Why I Write


 Image by Suat Eman






Ten Reasons Why I Write:


1  1)   I can’t help myself; I have been writing since I learned to read.
2  2)   My characters can’t type for themselves.
3  3)   Bookstores and libraries have the most interesting bathroom graffiti in the world.
4  4)   I love reading.
5  5)   It feeds my curiosity.
6  6)   I have been invited places I would never have been if I had not been a writer, seen things would not have seen and heard things I would not have heard.
7  7)   I can fold, spindle and mutilate anyone I want to in my writing without facing criminal prosecution.
8  8)   The writing community is full of great people.
9  9)   It impresses furnace repair people, door-to-door salespeople and house keeping workers and medical interns. (And I’ve sold books to them.)
1 10)  As I get older I get better at writing, unlike most activities.
1 11) As an addiction, it’s fairly cheap to feed.
1 12)   There are no hard and fast rules, if I want to include twelve items in a ten-item list, I can.


So, what’s your excuse?

19 comments:

  1. I write because I can't NOT write, Warren.

    Enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek list!

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  2. I agree with Linda. I can't help it. it's like an obsession. When it hits you you have to drop everything else and DO what that nag inside directs! Of course, to write to sell is a horse of another ... well, you get my drift... Thanks! Thelma Straw in Manhattan

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  3. Fun list.

    I have no idea why I write. I just do. Thinking about it too much will give me a headache.

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  4. Anon,

    We do write for different reasons. At a new critique group once a writer offered to read her work with just one stipulation — that nobody would talk about it afterward. That group did not last long.

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  5. Peg,

    Thanks for sharing. Take two aspirins and blog me in the morning.

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  6. I write because nobody ever told me I couldn't write, and if they did, I'd still write, because I have to write.

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  7. I wtite because it lets me hang out with people I like,
    AND, When I write I'm working, so I don't have to do the dishes.

    Good blog, Warren!

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  8. I write because I don't like to talk. So of course on Sunday I have to talk about a short story I wrote. Chesapeake Crimes: The Job Is Murder will be launch at One More Page Books in Arlington, VA at 12-2 pm. I hate to talk in public, it's enough to make me want to write a story titled, "Murder Can Stop You From Talking." Wish me luck--I'm a nervous wreck.

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  9. I write because there are all these ideas cluttering up my brain. I know I'll never get my house spotless and uncluttered, nor will I ever manage to get all the gardens weeded, but at least with putting all those ideas down on paper, maybe my brain will become decluttered at least.

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  10. Good luck, EB! Visualize them all in their underwear before you go on (if that's not too scary)

    I don't do that, but a technique I've suggested to others that's worked well is to focus on the back wall above the heads of the people in that row. That makes it look as if you're making eye contact with the audience (which makes for a better talk), but makes it easier for those who are leery of looking directly at the people sitting out there.

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  11. Congratulations, EB. I'm sorry I can't be there. If you haven't, you can invite friends and family so the audience will be friendly. I try to attend events like that in the role of Warren, the writer, who is not Warren the person. Dissociation helps.

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  12. Gloria, I agree. Brain de-cluttering feels good.

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  13. Linda,

    I like to do readings and signing as one of my characters. You could get a badge and go as Skeeter.

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  14. A good, solid list, Warren. I identify with so many of your reasons. I have only this to add:
    I'm happy when I do, and really crabby when I don't.

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  15. I write to get the stories out of my head and I can move on to the next one

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