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a Savage Chickens cartoon by Doug Savage
Doug Savage, over at Savage Chickens, almost always makes me laugh. He draws wonderful cartoons, usually featuring chickens, and he does it all on post-it notes. Amazing!
And while I chuckled, I wondered...Why indeed? Why do we write? It rarely pays--or doesn't pay much--and it can be incredibly frustrating and time-consuming. So why do we continue sitting down to a blank page day after day?
Of course, if you're Pearl, you write because you have 1.8 million followers (and every day, 217 more add themselves to the list). She manages to conjure incredibly hilarious urban tales about riding the bus and her cubicle mates and her cats. If she didn't post, a disgruntled mob would rise up and wreak havoc.
If you're Fireblossom or Mama Zen, who write mind-blowing, teeth-gnashing poetry (you gnash your teeth because you didn't write it), you write because...well, I guess they write because they must. Their words and their thoughts must be like a geyser that has to find a way to vent. (And if you're Marcia Gaye, another poet friend of mine, you write because you're so good at it and you win local and state poetry contests. (Has the madness gone beyond Missouri, Marcia? Let me know...)
If you're Val, you write because the're a geyser inside of you, too, but it's a geyser of snarkiness. I think, if Val did not write, one of her kids or her
If you're Donna Volkenannt, you write because you have to keep your pen limber for the next international Erma Bombeck humor contest. (She was the most recent winner.) Or the next anthology to come out. When a collection comes out, you'll invariably find a story by Donna.
If you're Linda O'Connell, a fellow WWWP, you write because your keyboard's on fire. Linda has a writing goal, and she's burning to achieve it. (Ask her what the goal is. She might tell you.)
And if you're one of the other WWWPs (Wild Women Wielding Pens)--Lynn Obermoeller, T'Mara Goodsell, or Beth M. Wood--you write because you're prodded and encouraged and cajoled and begged to write. The five of us support each other and keep each other on the writing path...
Doug Savage, on his little biographical page, spoke about being an artist. He said, "Creativity is a bit like a stubborn weed that won’t die: the roots run deep enough that it will keep growing back under the right conditions."
What simile would you use to describe the writing process or creativity? Or, what are the "roots" of your writing like?
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I'm Sioux Roslawski and this is my blog about writing, dogs, grown-up children, menopause, the joy of a marvelous book, classroom teaching in general, and specifically, the teaching of writing. You can email me at sroslawski(at)yahoo(dot)com.
The Pyrenees---Southern France
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Why Write?
data, data teams, data walls, teaching, classroom
Beth M. Wood,
Donna Volkenannt,
Doug Savage,
Fireblossom,
Linda O'Connell,
Lynn Obermoeller,
Mama Zen,
Marcia Gaye,
Pearl,
savage chickens,
T'Mara Goodsell,
Val the Victorian
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Aww, Sioux! How delightful to pop in and find myself linked. :-)
ReplyDeleteI only WISH I had 1.8 million followers. Summer is a dreadful time if one watches their stats (as I do) as it seems everyone (but me!) is taking vacations, wandering about in the sunshine, and otherwise doing things besides reading my blog. :-)
How dare they?!! :-)
Hugs and Kisses from Minneapolis,
Pearl
Seriously, Pearl--even though you've been known to nibble on pickle rollups (disgusting!), you ARE welcome anytime to join the WWWPs. We do have a rollicking good time.
DeleteI write because there's a laugh stuck inside my chest, and I can only set it free by telling others about it in written words.
ReplyDeleteAt least, that's how I feel when I write poems. This is a clever and cute blog post. I like it. Especially the bit about teeth-gnashing poetry (due to jealousy!) Thank you! I'm a big fan of learning by writing and reading, and reading this blog post has sparked my desire to go write a poem. Thanks!
-Forrest Lybrand
Check out my book "We Kill Death" at https://www.createspace.com/3911765
and my dear old dad(Fred Lybrand)'s writing course at http://www.advanced-writing-resources.com
Forrest--
DeleteI lovelovelove your line, "I write because there's a laugh stuck inside my chest, and I can only set it free by telling others about it in written words." That's incredibly profound.
Thanks. I aim to please (most of the time;) and now I'm going to check YOUR writing.
When I was growing up, some kid or another in my neighborhood would come up with a cool new game - like the time my friends got a mattress in their basement under some pipes and they called it the "trampoline" and the "monkey bars," and we'd play all day long and the next day, until I'd wake up in the morning excited about getting to play again. That's what creativity is. Great post, and thanks for the link!
ReplyDeleteThose WERE good times, weren't they? I mean, I wasn't there playing monkey bars with you, but I was creating my own little fantasy world--"spies" and "Speedracer" and all sorts of ther made-up games.
DeleteThanks, and you're welcome, and thanks, Tammy, for your writerly gifts that you share (although I DO hate your 3).
I write because If I don't those 4 other WWWPs will kick my ass...
ReplyDeleteYou're right--they certainly will!
DeleteFor me, writing is like ripping off my shoes and socks after a July evening shopping trip, running my second-grade toes through the cool clover next door, where my grandpa will give me a sip from the garden hose, which he is using to water his tulip tree seedling protected by a tiny metal fence.
ReplyDeleteIt rehydrates my soul.
Val--"It rehydrates my soul." How deep!
DeleteI write because I love to tell a story. Maybe I should just be a story teller. Thanks for the hsout out. I think your writing is amazing.
ReplyDeleteWhy be "just" a story teller when you can tell the story verbally and entertain/move people, and you can also write down the story and make people laugh/cry?
DeleteYou can do both, Linda, and you DO do both.
I write because the pens just jump into my hand. That, and to mollify the bitch-goddess STWIASD. (and I can't wait until she reads that!)
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess we all hope that STWIASD keeps demanding it.
DeleteI write because I keep discovering cool things that I want to share.
ReplyDeleteAnd Mary, you ARE generous with the information/sites you find.
DeleteI write because I can't dance!
ReplyDeleteMZ--So this is the one thing, the ONLY thing you cannot do! It's nice to know there's at least one solitary thing you can't do. (But you COULD sing the Leo Sayer song...)
DeleteI write because I become a cranky ole bia if I don't. Love your post and thanks for the shout-out.
ReplyDeleteLynn--Thanks, and you're welcome.
ReplyDelete