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Why I Write, and Giant Giant Sandwiches.
Apr. 18th, 2008 09:47 amFrom that What you don't post about and should meme. See, I get around to it when I have time! Also still accepting challenges if anybody else has any.
WHY you write.
I started writing because I was frustrated by an inadequate supply of the sorts of stories I wanted to read, and I didn't like the endings of some of the stories I had. So I rewrote them the way that *I* wanted it to end.
At some point, I had the inevitable "I can write better than that" epiphany while reading a published work. I also had lots of encouragement from my parents, and even from one English teacher who took me aside after class and asked if I'd ever thought of becoming a writer when I grew up.
The real reason that I write so tenaciously, though, is because at some point it dug itself into my psyche so deeply that I have problems when I don't write. Around college and a little after, I would whine about wanting to write or not writing...but I didn't actually *do* much. I was also frustrated, depressed, and not a little psycho. Those who knew me then might have just shuddered a little as they read that! Eventually, I got called on it.
So I started writing again. And things got better. Because basically, some part of my psyche is so tied up in being a writer, in creating, that when I'm not writing, I get frustrated and depressed and start feeling like my life has no point and no purpose and I'm accomplishing nothing, just treading water. I feel trapped and desperate and meaningless. Bad Times.
A light bulb went off. Aha! And so, as part of my ongoing attempt to maintain sanity and meaning in my life, I write.
Giant sandwiches.
I'm quite fond of giant sandwiches. Really. I think they're delicious. Especially when somebody brings the "party-sized" ones to an event? They're best after they've sat out for a couple of hours and are room-temperature and the flavors have "cured" a little. Also? I can't see food go to waste (v. poor growing up, lived in Africa, too, etc.), so these giant sandwich remnants will frequently come home with me.
WHY you write.
I started writing because I was frustrated by an inadequate supply of the sorts of stories I wanted to read, and I didn't like the endings of some of the stories I had. So I rewrote them the way that *I* wanted it to end.
At some point, I had the inevitable "I can write better than that" epiphany while reading a published work. I also had lots of encouragement from my parents, and even from one English teacher who took me aside after class and asked if I'd ever thought of becoming a writer when I grew up.
The real reason that I write so tenaciously, though, is because at some point it dug itself into my psyche so deeply that I have problems when I don't write. Around college and a little after, I would whine about wanting to write or not writing...but I didn't actually *do* much. I was also frustrated, depressed, and not a little psycho. Those who knew me then might have just shuddered a little as they read that! Eventually, I got called on it.
So I started writing again. And things got better. Because basically, some part of my psyche is so tied up in being a writer, in creating, that when I'm not writing, I get frustrated and depressed and start feeling like my life has no point and no purpose and I'm accomplishing nothing, just treading water. I feel trapped and desperate and meaningless. Bad Times.
A light bulb went off. Aha! And so, as part of my ongoing attempt to maintain sanity and meaning in my life, I write.
Giant sandwiches.
I'm quite fond of giant sandwiches. Really. I think they're delicious. Especially when somebody brings the "party-sized" ones to an event? They're best after they've sat out for a couple of hours and are room-temperature and the flavors have "cured" a little. Also? I can't see food go to waste (v. poor growing up, lived in Africa, too, etc.), so these giant sandwich remnants will frequently come home with me.