Writing...

One of the primary reasons I started this blog was to discuss matters of writing.  I find it interesting that I have posted more entries about non-writing topics than I have actually posted about writing.  However, I also believe that any form of writing, be it blogs, novels, short stories, poems, non-fiction, or whatever has a life of its own.  That is, it goes in the direction it wants to go in.  There have been many times that I have begun writing a post for this blog and what came out was not what I intended, or more accurately, I often sit down without any intentions at all and just wait and see what comes out.  Today is no exception.  I believe that what we write is what we need to write, even if it is not necessarily what we want to write.  When we fight this tendency our writing suffers, or more to the point, our ability to write suffers.

Since I have been involved with tools such as twitter, this blog, etc, I have become even more aware that there is a vast population of writers and would-be writers out there.  I always knew that, but now... well, let's just say that I am, as previously stated, even more aware of them... or should I say us...

I have found that, interestingly, many people who write often find it hard to understand those who do not, or cannot write, and it is also very much the other way around.  Non-writers don't understand the need that we writers have to write, nor do they understand the feeling writers get when they do write.  It is also something that is very hard to explain.  In fact, it is much like describing the taste of salt without using the word salt, or salty.  The best way to see into a writer's heart, mind and soul is to read what they have written since this is the way that writer's express themselves.

I, like most writers, have always written.  I can remember no time in my life when I have not written.  A while ago I was looking through some boxes of stuff I have from childhood and I found stories, or ideas for stories that I wrote so many years ago. 

The fact that many writers do not publish does not make them any less of a writer than those who do.  Some people write solely for the sake of writing, and not for fame, or financial reward... not that there is a lot of that for most writers...

So, those of you who write... keep writing... no matter what.  Don't give up because you aren't published, or because no one gets or likes your writing.  Write because there is that spark within you that demands to be released.  Write because the thought of not writing is unbearable.  Write because it is what you do and who you are.  Write because of the sheer joy it, and finally, write because the world needs writers... it really does.