# Why Writers Write - Compelling



## ejrosetta (Aug 4, 2014)

Writing on the internet is nerve racking. Because people can be mean on the internet, when they're anonymous and hold no accountability. They can be cruel and snide. But they can also be fucking hilarious, which sort of makes up for it.

The best way of starting the next sentence would be “When people ask me why I write…” and then explain in long and beautiful details my inspirations and aspirations. But actually, no-one gives a shit why I write. In fact, in most cases, the thought of reading something an acquaintance has written fills people with dread. It's awkward, isn't it? Being asked to deliberately take in the inner workings of someone's mind. It's too personal. Like reading a diary. It makes both parties uncomfortable.

People always assume that work is autobiographical, or holds some deep meaningful metaphorical insight to the author. Those who don't write tend to equate it to composing the lyrics to a song… it must, in their mind, be based on the heart or on the soul. The idea that someone could just create a story doesn't seem possible. It's not reasonable to them. To some people, creativity is a painting. Visceral. Not letters arranged in a row. Not paragraphs. They suppose it's meant to have pictures.

I write for the same reason that singers sing… Because I am compelled to do so. Singers don't only sing when they are performing, they do it unconsciously. In the shower, on the bus, they do it without thinking. They are compelled to do so, because the tune is within them and needs to come out. And it's the same with prose… it's the externalisation of a stream of thought. Taking the words that flutter about you and solidifying them in front of your eyes. Organising them on paper so that you can read them through, and maybe they could make some sense that way?

Perhaps it's over-thinking. Over-thinking to the point where the thoughts spill out of your head and onto paper. Perhaps it's excess.

You're supposed to write honestly, authentically, and without holding back. But it's difficult to do so if the piece is meant for someone else's eyes. It makes you self conscious, as though on a stage. So the only way to write, really, is in private. To imagine that the very paper you're marking is crumbling behind you. As though the words are footprints in the sand, being erased mere moments after they're made. Disintegrating track marks. You must imagine you are anonymous, and only then can you be absolutely honest. Absolutely compelling.

Dance like no-ones watching, sing like no-ones listening. And write like those words are under lock and key.

Because it's not a performance, for writers. It's mandatory. I'm not trying to be insightful, or funny, or informative. I am trying to Be. These words would be here whether you were reading them or not.

Because I am compelled to write them.


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## dither (Aug 5, 2014)

I give you my sig.


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## InstituteMan (Aug 5, 2014)

I think that pretty much every writer works out of the compulsion to write, as you suggest. 

There is great vulnerability in sharing your work. I find sharing with people I know on the Internet far easier than sharing with people I know in my everyday life. I foist some of my work upon my wife, particularly if it is going out into the wider world, and that can be nerve wracking. She is always nice about it, but I don't exactly write the stuff she tends to read. I know that she doesn't always get my meaning.


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## escorial (Aug 5, 2014)

enjoyed


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## qwertyportne (Aug 5, 2014)

Enjoyed your thoughts and benefitted from them, even if that was not your intention. Your reason for writing is as valid as any I've ever read. Favorite lines were...

_So the only way to write, really, is in private. To imagine that the very paper you're marking is crumbling behind you. As though the words are footprints in the sand, being erased mere moments after they're made.

_And your reference to singers reminds me of Bjork, a singer from Iceland, who said*, *_“Trying to communicate with people on a daily basis, in an ordinary way, feels like trying to put an ocean through a straw. So I sing.” 

_She's implying an audience, of course, but I like her attitude. And yours. Thanks for posting this!


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## Plasticweld (Aug 5, 2014)

I am going to disagree with you, about the writing in private anyway. 

I am a story teller, a pretty good one.  I am at best a poor to fair writer.  The advantage I have as a story teller is that I tell the story many times.  I can watch the audience and right away know if what I have said makes any sense, touched a nerve or completely lost them.  I have often said that if a writer could watch someone read their work they would know a lot more about what worked, where the story dragged or where it succeeded. 


I have  no idea when I write something if I have gotten a reaction out of a reader.  There is  a power that you get, a warm glow when you make someone laugh, or use an antidote that they can identify with on a personal level.  I have given some horrible talks, told jokes that bombed and at times wondered what the hell I was doing when speaking in front of people. It has at times been the worst I have ever felt.   That being said, I have never felt better than when I pulled it off, sold myself, sold the story, made a point, made someone re-think something as they have never thought of before.  A good speaker is  a good teacher just as a writer should be able to share a part of themselves. 

In person I think I have a certain charisma, most of that seems to  have be lost when I write.   I have read your work, it is safe to say you certainly have charisma when you write and a flare for making your point and coming across with a real human touch.  I would love to know if you are as charismatic in person... That would be the real test  to what you  say here in this post, my guess is that you underestimate yourself...Bob


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## Ethan (Aug 6, 2014)

I liked your post, but mostly I liked the way it was written.


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## Pandora (Aug 6, 2014)

Inspiring and I agree wholeheartedly. I very much like to get inside the insides though, I think that is what fills me up!


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## Apex (Aug 6, 2014)

Writers are people who can live solo...the more people like your work...the more solo one gets. Sometimes it feels like a trap.


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## Sc0pe (Aug 7, 2014)

This is a very interesting piece. I do feel it dose speak to me as well as meany others in a sense. I have told stories to my brothers when i was younger so I get what 
* Plasticweld*  	 was saying to a cretin degree that goes double when i first started, unsure how they would react but confident that what I have to tell them will jell with them and they would understand. I think it's a funny mix of what you both said.

Overall I like it.


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## Lucydity (Aug 9, 2014)

Very true, perhaps the internet is actually a better place to write under a different perspective, if it isn't good your family will probably remember it, akwardly..but they'd never tell you because they love you, where as the internet you will get good critique from people you may never see again in a few months time


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## Hopeful Writer (Aug 9, 2014)

I've never thought of it as awkward to read someone's writing. I've always been curious about the inner workings of others minds though, so I suppose I never thought that maybe they didn't want to know the inner workings of others minds. I think your idea that the words are there regardless of audience presence or not is pretty accurate. I've had all these ideas, characters, places, and the like in my head for a long time. They will continue to be there, and new ones will continue to come - whether anyone else knows or not.

Thanks for sharing. Your words are a bit inspiring. ^,.,^


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## ejrosetta (Aug 10, 2014)

dither said:


> I give you my sig.



Thanks! What's a sig?


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## Plasticweld (Aug 10, 2014)

ejrosetta said:


> Thanks! What's a sig?



At the bottom of each post we put a signature or saying that is important to us.  Dithers is 
_*One can but dream, if only i had dared.  *_   As you get to know him you will find it a real insight into who he is.  


Mine is   *God hates a coward          

“Good writin' ain't necessarily good readin'.”     
―     Ken Kesey,*
 Mine also gives you a peek into my mind set. 



Yours could be   _*More than meets the eye  *_or something to that effect


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## ejrosetta (Aug 10, 2014)

Ah, Thanks! I'll go find my fave Margaret Atwood quote and figure out how to add it in...!


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## Dave Watson (Aug 10, 2014)

I agree with pretty much everything you say there, dude, but...



> To imagine that the very paper you're marking is crumbling behind you. As though the words are footprints in the sand, being erased mere moments after they're made. Disintegrating track marks. You must imagine you are anonymous, and only then can you be absolutely honest. Absolutely compelling.



Not so sure about this part, image envoking though it may be. Yeah, you do have to let yourself go, but personally I think it's prudent to keep on a constant check on what you've just written. I can rarely write more than a couple of sentences before going back and checking over them. I've found that there's a danger of descending into overwritten, possibly pretentious nonsense when you just let your imagination completely take over your fingertips on the keyboard and hammer away for a while without really thinking about it. If that makes any sense. Everyone has their own method, and I think you can still approach your story with honesty when you imagine the words as permanent marks in wet concrete rather than temporary footprints in the sand. I'd say we can all feel a sense of satisfaction when we've scribbled down something that we think is good, but whether a writer is absolutely compelling or not is mostly decided by the reader.


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## gokedik (Aug 14, 2014)

If you don't write as if your writing in wet concrete, as Mr. Dave Watson said, why write? I admire the scribes in ancient Egypt whom chiseled their words into sandstone, which is why we can read them today. I have often wanted to learn to do that. And opening your mind to the "unknown" people of the internet, well, if that makes you uncomfortable, what do you think it's going to do to your reader? 

I have had disagreements with my mentor on whom it is I write for. I maintained that I , first, write for myself, because if I'm not having fun writing it, there's no way it's going to be an enjoyable read. YOU have to enjoy it, first. And write for the ages, not disappearing words in the wind or sand. My mentor says every writer writes to be loved be the public. But as Cyril Connolly said, "Better to write for yourself and have no public than write for the public and not have yourself." So, to my mentor, check and mate. But I jest, I texted him the quote and he concurred. Write...open your mind and have no fear, unless you have something to hide, we'll be able to tell. You must get over yourself, not to be rude or grating but it's the truth, your words matter, you, nor I, do.

*"A great writer tells the truth even when he or she does not wish to."*


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