Why Do I Write?

Why do I Write? "It's a writing exercise which would make you to write better" advised most authors and I thought of buying into it.

I do not write because of the love I've for it or I cannot help without doing it. I've heard other writers telling that writing is something that brings joy and meaning to their lives. I wish I could tell the same, but I can't. Because I do not like to lie to myself or to others, I must acknowledge that I do not feel the enjoyment they are talking about.

Perhaps in my school going days, when day dreaming and reading were my hobbies, writing was something I loved to do. Imagination ran wild when I put my fountain pen on paper to write essays for my language art class. Being voracious readers,my friends and I used to write stories of our own draw pictures of the characters and scenes on notebooks and share with each other to entertain us on our spare times.

Creative writing was something that set my fingers to dance, my heart to race and my grades to go higher. Captivated my writing, my teachers asked me to read out my essays in front of my class many a times. I had won prizes too at school writing competition. But never did any teacher took the time to convey to me that I had the gift of writing nor encouraged me to continue to write even after my high school years. Probably I would have taken my writing seriously and pursued a writing career if only someone would have given me the encouragement.

Today it's a different story. After many years of lapse in creative writing, my interest in trying out different recipes in cooking made me want to write a cookbook. To learn how to write a cookbook, I enrolled myself in a correspondence course in writing, which paved my way to get some of my articles and poems published in newspaper and Christian magazines.

Though I didn't end up writing a cookbook, I did become a devotional columnist for a Christian Writers Fellowship magazine for five years, founded and led a writers group for a few years and had been blogging for years to share my thoughts and experiences.

However, the process of writing is still a struggle for me. So, why am I still keep on writing, you may ask. Being a person who is ever ready to quit if things become difficult, I should have given up writing long ago. But,when I got into writing, I was determined to not to do one thing-never to give up even if things become tough. Also, I considered writing to be a wonderful avenue to serve the Lord. I wanted to give back to the Lord what He had in His goodness given me. So, whenever writing became a struggle, which was the case always, instead of giving into my natural tendency of feeling down in self-pity, I plowed through writer's block and self-doubt with determination and discipline. I'm glad that I did so,because today writing has become a habit which has brought its fruits I surely enjoy.
(Date: 08/21/2004)