This week I was reading about creating, and why we do it, and what keeps us going. As a writer, it’s easy to forget, it’s easy to wonder why the hell we spend hours upon hours jotting down words and then rearranging them into unsatisfactory combinations, until we find that we kind of like them, or we give up. Oh, occasionally there are the moments when we are truly happy with the results, but that is not often and comes with a lot of work and so we wonder, why? Why do we torture ourselves this way? And then we get a reminder. Sometimes it’s a nudge, sometimes it’s a 2×4 across the head, but whatever it is, it resonates with us, and keeps up going.
That’s what happened to me when I read this one line. “We write to share.”
Ah, yes. That’s it. And it’s also the reason we sometimes don’t write, because we are afraid that what we have to share is not worth it, but it is. What I have to say, what you have to say, is worth it, for someone, maybe not for everyone, probably not for everyone, but what we write will resonate with someone out there, therefore it must be written.
So, I’ve allowed that thought to inspire me this week, to remind me that I have things to share, stories that are always whirling around in my head. Living with wonderlust and my Blue Bomber (VW Vanagon). My scattered writing life and my battle with putting words on the page. Why a high school coach needs an attorney. Raising kids (or at least trying). My life as a not-so-famous fashion model. More on surviving death and loss. My love affair with rental houses and real estate. My thoughts about the strength and power of women and how I cry watching WNBA games just thinking about all the changes that have happened in women’s sports and all the hopes and dreams I have for the future. My desire to bring more light on the poaching of elephants and rhinos in Africa. My hope for change in politics, women’s rights and gun control.
I wonder about it all, and more. I want to share how I feel, what I think, what other people think. I want to change lives, help people grow or simply remind them to be the same. I want to entertain them with my words, my opinions and my stories. Does that sound pompous to think others would even care about what I say? It feels pompous, even wrong. Just one more reason we writers are afraid. But, like I tell myself when I go to one of my book readings, if just one person cares what I have to say (and there will be at least one) it’s worth it. Just do it, it is worth it to share what you have held tight in your soul.
On long drives I write stories. Sitting watching basketball games I write stories. Walking the dogs I write stories. And they swirl in my mind waiting to be told as my day-to-day life gets in the way, and then I scold myself, Sonya find the time, you have it, find it. And still, I make excuses, I find a house to remodel, a dish to clean, a rabbit hole to crawl down into and then the story sits. But it’s there (just like yours), waiting for that nudge (or 2×4), to get me moving, and get it out and into the world.
What you have to say is important!
Write on!
WRITING PROMPT 1: Why do I write?
WRITING PROMPT 2: What do I want to share?
