Why I Write

[true_noir_chloe]

For all who write. Nunc dimittis

Please let me know afterward why you write. Okay?

Why I Write

I love to write. I have been writing anything from essays, to short stories and novels to eulogies and articles, songs which I’ve performed and children’s stories to read to my kids when they were heading off to bed. I love the way the written word sounds when it is read out loud and I love the way the written word looks on a page once blank. It is this love of the written word that causes me to pick up a pen every evening and allow my mind to be released to uncharted styles and new characters.

Fiction is borne of the imagination, but it comes to fruition with a knowledgeable mind of facts. All writers are first readers and all readers love writers. Oh, how I love to write.

I know I am not the greatest writer in the world; in fact I am barely credible. Yet, I have been infected with a love that is the same as the love my Lord has for the written word. How will they know unless you tell them? God chose to speak to us, His children through the written word. His Spirit guides us, but there is a rudder for the soul, and that is the written word of God.

My words are finite, incomplete, always able to be better; but never His. They are complete, infinite and always the best.

Humbly I add more writing to the threads, hoping to bring joy, a laugh or a heartfelt sigh. If my words can only bring an ounce of the love I have for my Lord and His word, they are worth the effort.

Here’s to good writing and words written well.

[Lochaber Axe]

Why I write...

I write to resolve the torrents of visualizations of my everchurning imagination. I write to find some point in which to glorify God through my writing. Some point to better know him. Some point to better know myself.

That is why I write...




...now Ive choked myself up with my own writing.

[Haibane Shadsie]

Mine are many of the same reasons mentioned above.

From when I was very small, I've loved to read. I love books, the feel of them, the feel of a page turned by my fingers, the look of print, the smell of print, the curvature and lines of letters on a page... (I am also a graphic designer, and have become a font-geek). Serif letters, sans-serif letters...

I love the images and feelings that can be painted with words. The comments I seem to most get upon my writing is that I use a lot of detail. I was first a visual artist, and still am... I think I "write like a painter"... I try to describe everything that I visually imagine in my mind, I want to pull people into my worlds.

I write to pull myself into my worlds. I write to express the worlds within my heart - borne of my own experiences of nature, but also completely my own. I write to work out things, to express my feelings and opinions on issues in a non-threatening manner.

I write to create homes for the bizzare creatures that I draw randomly in notebook margins and in sketchpads. I like to create their habits, their foods, whole ecologies around them.

I write because human and humanoid charcters come about in the same way and they need places to live.

I write because I enjoy it. I fall in love with the worlds I create, the beasts therein, and the characters. I want to create, I have a drive to create, and I want to create more.

I write because I speculate things, "What if?" "What if this comes about sometime in the future?" "What if a world like this existed somewhere at some time in the past?" "What if there is this parallel universe somewhere?" and "What if the characters did this?"

[true_noir_chloe]

I'm glad to hear from both of you on why you love to write. Lochabar, I envision you with an expressin like your avatar.

Shadsie, it's so funny how you said, "I write like a painter." I used to have a business card when I was writing little greeting card gifts as a business. Didn't do well. On my card I said, oh I forget, but it was something like, "Let me paint a picture with words." I've always thought of writing as a beautiful form of art. I love how you stated it, so poignantly.

[Aibou]

I write because I'm still training to draw comics.. then again I don't write that much. It gives me an headache... -_-

[true_noir_chloe]

Aibou, I've seen your art and you're great at art. I'd like to see more of your art.

[Heaven's Cloud]

I don't write storys, well I start them but they seem to never get finished. For a career when I am older I would like to be a Journalist for magazines like PC World or the Mac magazine.

The reason why I want to write is because I want to inform other people of it, and I love to type. I also write because I love to just do it. I've written reports on animals, and about 5 book reports. I've always love to read. Last year our teacher would have us write real little stories in our writing notebooks. They would be about 3 or 2 pages long.

I haven't finished a lot of writings, but I usually finish the school work because that is due and all that stuff. Though I would love to write little articals for Magazines, or in other words Journalism. The articals in PCWorld that I read just blow my mind and I usually say I want to do that. That is the basic reason why I want to be a Journalist.

The reason I want to be a Journalist of that paticular magazine (PC World) because I know a lot about them, and I feel that would be where I could write the best. Game Reviews, I couldn't really do it. I couldn't keep up to date with them. News, I just don't think that I would be able to get out that much, or watch the news. Sports, not one of my favorite generes, other than Soccer, soccer I enjoy. Those are why I couldn't write some of those kind of Journalism. So there's all my stuff.

One thing I have to do is go further in school and get better in my grammer and spelling. But yeah, that is my dream. I'd also like to program some stuff, but that's off topic, lol. Nice thread true_noir_chloe!

[true_noir_chloe]

I think you've got a good head on your shoulders, Heaven's Cloud. School is always first. I'm glad to hear you're a reader. You can't be much of a writer unless first you're a reader.

Thanks for responding to the thread.

[Ashley]

I write because writing is powerful. It's an unseen power, much like the wind, but very much real. Words have a musical quality about them that goes beyond the sounds of the letters--they influence you subtly.

I write because I have always written. Like everyone else here, I grew up reading my entire childhood. I loved having that "movie reel" going in my mind, and the older I got, the more I tapped into that. There's something exciting about crafting a tale and weaving words, something that goes beyond explanation.

I write because it tells a story. And everyone loves a good story. I got into journalism because it had a sense of realism too it--the stories were real, and I was the one to tell the public about them and the characters starring in them....it was very thrilling.

I guess lastly...I write because that's what God has given me to work with...that's my instrument, my canvas, my stage. My talent, in the Jewish sense of the word.

[Lochaber Axe]

Yes, through a master, the written word can create worlds that no artists can create, for an artist creates images through his mind while a writer creates through ours. Joy of life, agony of death, loving peace, hateful war, all can be the writer can reveal through our own minds. A old photograph of war might tell one poignant fact but the written description of it will look past the obvious into the true realm of the third dimensional of past, present, and future. This is what I wish to obtain as a writer.

[true_noir_chloe]

Ashley, thanks for responding. I was once a journalism major and it was my favorite. I loved the camaraderie of working on the newspaper. If things would have been different I would have wanted a life in journalism. I think it's very admirable what you do and how you use your gift.

Lochabar, I'm glad you love writing so much. Are you a really excitable guy, because I always get uplifted when I read your stuff. I can't help but smile.

[Lochaber Axe]

*Starts music and starts swinging arm cupped with an imaginary flag of beer*

La dadi dadi dadi dadi dadi dadi dadi A

I once knew a writer,
Who went by the name of Dave.
Kept saying he was my father,
At least that is what he would say.

I once knew a writer,
Who couldn't keep a date,
I saw what was the matter,
He had a mole the size of Kuwait!!!

La dadi dadi dadi dadi DAAADI DAAADI DA!!!!!!

"Who's line is it is anyway" is one of my favorite shows.

Note: my dad's name is Johnny... it was a joke.

[Technomancer]

I'll take this question up from a rather different perspective. I need to write technical papers and reports about my work, and my explanations have to be clear so that other researchers can understand them. Communication is essential in what I do. In addition, I have to be able to tailor my presentation of the material to my audience. For example, a paper or presentation written for signal processing specialists has to be much different than one for a more general audience (like when I was working for Defence R&D branch).

Ultimately, it's about communicating ideas, sometimes regarding my engineering work, or about public policy issues, or some other topic.

[ShiroiHikari]

You know, I dunno why I write. I guess because I can't draw...o_O

You guys all made these nice elaborate posts...o.o

[andyroo]

Really. I don't normally write. It just isn't me. When I do write it's usually under a few of the reasons that Technomancer has already stated, sorta. I have written some 'creative' works, but I can't find them any where, and they're probably not all that good to begin with. "Who's Line is it Anyway?" is halarious.

[EireWolf]

You guys all made these nice elaborate posts...o.o

Just think of the vast majority of us who aren't posting...

I write too, or at least I used to. I haven't written in a long time. But like ShiroiHikari, I don't really know why. Maybe for the same reason I do art now... I have an idea in my head that wants to get out and manifest itself.

[true_noir_chloe]

I think all people are writers; obviously, it's a form of communication. Some feel called to excel and do it often and they work at their craft. (*whispering* BTW, EireWolf is a very good writer.) I was talking to a friend of mine. She's very smart, had the second highest score on her SAT at her high school. She's just a great person and she knows all these little trivial facts. Well, she said that really only around 25-30% of all people really are gifted artists, the rest just like to draw. I asked her if she thought the same of writers. After a long pause, she said, "yes." She then smiled and I wondered. I dared not ask if she thought I was part of the 75%.

I loved Lochabar's song. You could dance a good Irish jig to it. The banana tries so hard.

[inkhana]

I'm sure someone else has said this, but the reason I write is not only to tell a story but to take someone on an adventure. I learned to write because I couldn't program RPGs initially. It was the next best thing. Now it's my primary way of showing someone the world I have in my mind with the hopes that they would grow to love it as I do. Whether this is a good or bad thing is up to you...

Actually, for those of you who were wondering, I was writing fantasy long before I became a Christian, so my original intent was not necessarily to bring glory to God...although that has changed.

[uc pseudonym]

Hmm... I've been meaning to post here for some time, but never managed to make time.

I don't quite share the dramatic notions of writing expressed by most here. Writing is a medium, and one I happen to have talent in.

First, I write because I enjoy doing so. This can't necessarily be properly expressed, as it's an intrinsic part of who I am.

Second, I write (hopefully) to glorify God in some way. Almost everything I write, Christian or no, manages to have some element of truth in it (outside of documents solely for the purpose of conveying information or ideas. I don't think that's quite the spirit of this thread, however, so I'm ignoring my writing there). At best, perhaps my writing can help someone's spiritual walk. We shall see.

[true_noir_chloe]

I have another essay. I had started this thread for essays so I'll add another onto the fire. Please don't roast me too badly.

The Writer’s Heart

How did it come about? Why we write? Why we draw? Why we paint? Why we love to play music, sing or write it? Why are we so drawn to being creative people?

I honestly believe it is because we are created in His image – the most creative One which has ever existed. He gave us language and the canvas of our world to draw upon for what true beauty is. He gave us creatures to admire and humans to feel empathy toward.

Why do we create? It is because we are the object of the Father’s perfection. Although, mired in sin and shame, we still hold those facets of His personality in us.

I always implore my kids, or those who ask for editing, or just advice, to remember the human element. That’s my pet peeve in writing, the human element. Humanity, what is it?

I think unless you spend enough time with people; helping, hoping, laughing and crying with them you will never know what it is to write of them. Writers are observers of human nature. Characters without heart and concern become flat and unable to really tell a story that draws people in. Writers without heart and concern become flat storytellers that never draw people in. Unless people feel for the character they will only see writing – it could be excellent grammatically correct writing - but it is only writing.

I have read novel after novel of young writers who haven’t figured this out. Their stories might have edgy themes or great storylines that keep you on the edge of your seat, but you walk away not really caring whether or not the characters come back to visit you in a sequel.

Heart matters and it matters that we have one. The reason David McCullough is one of the best non-fiction writers is that he spends so much time with the autobiographical figure to know him, really “knowâ€

[EireWolf]

Yes! The greatest stories are the ones that make the characters come alive in the readers' hearts. The same is true for movies and anime, but the writer has an advantage in that s/he can draw you into a character's mind, and can employ the imagination of the reader rather than just the eyes of the viewer. Reading invokes a more active relationship with the characters, because the reader's own mind interacts with that of the writer to form the characters and the story.

And yes, I believe we create because we are made in the image of the Creator. His spark is in us all, which inspires us to create, to breathe life into characters of our own making.

I believe God invites us to be co-creators with Him.... and I believe that His creation didn't stop after the 7th day. He still creates, within us, through us, and throughout all of creation.

[true_noir_chloe]

So true, Eirewolf.

[ShiroiHikari]

Nice posts Eirewolf and Chloe :]

I don't get too worked up over writing anymore. But I really love my characters. *scoops them up and hugs them*

[Haibane Shadsie]

That's the major problem I seem to have with my wiriting... according to my writer's club - I don't seem to give my characters enough emotion. So, I go back, re-write, try to be more verbose... try to make them feel more and convey what they are feeling to the reader. I hope I'm improving.

[true_noir_chloe]

I think you are a very clear and concise writer. You handle metaphor fantastic and are very descriptive. I think you're improving. Maybe I'll go read more of your stuff and see what those writing club folks are talking about. If you don't mind.

[Haibane Shadsie]

Read "Xlyiss" on my site.

I'm currently adding some things to it, tweaking it, per suggestions from my writer's club. What I have posted currently is the first draft. When I wrote it I knew that my characters were blah, but I needed other's opinions to help me to make them un-blah. I got suggestions and I'm glad for the help. You may read the initial version to see how blah/unemotional my characters are in it. They're getting better in my additions. I plan to post the revised version here .

[true_noir_chloe]

I'm reading your story, Shadsie and so far it's really good. I'm looking forward to seeing it with the revisions. I see why they commented on some things the way they did; but, you probably already know what you need to do.

Hey, I finally got a new sig. Like it?

[EireWolf]

Yes, I like it. "In Him we live and move and have our being..."

[true_noir_chloe]

Thanks, EireWolf. ^-^

[churchgirl111]

Why i write... uh.....

I suppose for me it is a number of reasons...

I love fiction...being able to fly to unchartered realms with nothing holding you back except for the limitations you set yourself...You can chose how your writing is...i truly write to hopefully glorify God and to use what he has given me....

I love to read, each word can take you to a new adventure. A new place. Unfortunately i am not the best of writers...but i try to put my heart in to it. And i try to never give up...
One can learn great patience and humility through writing. I love to make up stories about heroes who are unlikely, and those who are not so unlikely. That are strong in heart and can't do it all their own. I try to write stories that make the reader think, having underlying messages sometimes or it is just said outright. Having a good story is great and fun but i believe that with each story...those who love to write for the sake of writing....that maybe a lesson lies within it....That's what i try to do...Perhaps too people may see the light of Christ within my writings as He is within my heart...that is my wish...whether i do it or not....well that is a different story entirely....

I love to write also to entertain with a message. To take someone away from the daily struggles of life into someone else's world of fiction.