FREE ESSAY ON WHY WE WRITE

WHY WE WRITE

Why We Write
Jessica Angelson
On Monday nights I get together with a few friends to exchange ideas about writing and to
exchange pieces that we have written. A few Mondays ago one of those friends was having
the most fundamental of creative writing problems. Why should I ever write anything? she
moaned. Why should any of us? No one wants to hear anything I have to say because I have
nothing new to say about any of it. After I, along with the rest of the group, tossed
some sympathetic and half-heartedly reassuring words to her I had a thought. Ultimately,
everyone wants to feel like they are not alone. No matter how right or how wrong we think
our lives are going or how right or wrong our thoughts are, we want to know that other
people are there to support us because they empathize with our experiences. What I was
trying to explain is the reasoning behind continuing to write creatively after thousands
of years of recorded literature. What I also realized is that, unless the subject deals
with some knew political or technological development, people have not really found any
new subjects about which to write. Love is still as wonderful and painful as it has
always been, death is still as mysterious, deception, betrayal, adventure, none of these
things has changed and yet they are among the most commonly written on subjects. Why have
we, as a race, not told ourselves that there is no new subject about which we can write
and therefore that we should throw in the towel altogether? One reason may well be that
humyns, in general, are loathe to admit our shortcomings and are, therefore, ultimately
arrogant. But humyn beings are also ultimately lonely. Of course, there are many reasons
people read: seeking excitement, research, etc. But why, for example, read a biography of
a person you do not know? Because we want to relate to other people. We want to feel good
about ourselves as people by reading about the happiness in another's life. We want to
feel better about ourselves by reading that someone else has the same problems as we. We
tire of our own lives, we get curious, we seek connection, and we want to hear stories
about things that others have done that we, perhaps, have not. It could be argued that
all things are actually interconnected on every level: We are all made of the same
matter, we all breathe the same air. We were all born from our mothers' bodies, we will
all some day die and fertilize the ground from which others will feed. However, it is
also arguable that the one level on which we may choose to be disconnected is on the
emotional level. Assuming that all with whom we connected as children are no longer a
part of our lives, we could choose to live in complete emotional isolation. Some people
do not even choose; it is somehow thrust upon them. And this is why writing is so
necessary. Writing is one of the most basic substitutes for, as well as supplements of,
humyn connection. And this is why, no matter how long humyn existence continues, we will
continue to write about our individual experiences with the most universal themes.
What drives me to write about my humble experiences?...