Why I Write

I’d like to think that I write because I have very strong feelings and hope that through my writing, others will be able to relate to me and know that they are not alone.  I don’t think that that is entirely true though.  I think that I write for more selfish reasons.  I don’t like that I write because I am selfish, but that doesn’t change the fact that my reasons for writing are, in fact, selfish.

One of these reasons is that I just enjoy the actual process of writing.  I like the feeling of putting words from my head down on paper or a screen.  It feels like I’ve built up something and am releasing it through writing.  It’s not always emotion that I feel the need to release.  Sometimes it’s just a need to get something out in precisely the way I mean it and have as much time as necessary for corrections.  Communication can be difficult for me through speech, and I often say things that I later feel could have been said better if time for consideration had been available.  Of course, conversations and debates can’t have long pauses to allow me to craft each sentence, but that’s precisely why I feel writing is a greater form of communication.

Another reason that I write is, admittedly ego.  I think that my writing is good.  I enjoy the feeling of having an idea, putting it on paper, reworking it, throwing it like a blanket on top of a structure as if building a fort, and ultimately having something that I feel works as a single work.  It’s so satisfying to read your own work and recognize that every individual piece operates with something else like gears in a clock.  This isn’t a reason that I am proud of, but it undeniably is one.

I also enjoy writing because of the control I feel as a writer.  I am able to create a person.  I can develop this person to be as complex and realistic as anyone you might meet in real life.  I can make the lines between fact and fiction indistinct even when writing fantasy if I so choose.  I have unlimited power granted to me simply through the order in which I choose to place words in a sentence.  It gives me an almost godlike control over something in a world where I am able to control little to nothing.  It doesn’t matter that that sounds worrisome because that is the truth, and I can write.  I could write it if it wasn’t, and it might as well be.  That is the power that can be held through writing, and I enjoy it immensely.

Author: Jackson Palmer

Jackson Palmer is a student studying literature at the Mississippi School of the Arts. He hopes to use the education he obtains there to write novels, short stories, poetry, and scripts for movies, television, and theater productions. Additionally, he would like to write within a number of genres such as comedy, drama, horror, etc. Some of his favorite writers and influences include Billy Joel, John Steinbeck, and Dan Harmon. He hopes to explore concepts and systems of thought such as existentialism, nihilism, and fulfillment within his writing. He would like to thank you visiting his blog and hopefully reading his work. View all posts by Jackson Palmer