Why Writers Write - One Man's Opinion

Why are we writers? Why do we subject ourselves to the grind of putting the words out on a deadline and pouring our soul onto the paper day after day? For me, it is my love letter to the future. I want to know that my words, if not my life, will be evergreen. My kids will one day be able to look back on my writings and feel closer to me. So many people ask me why I write so much about the human condition, and emotions, and my own life. The answer to this question is actually rather complicated.

When I write about my own life, I am having my sit down with my psychiatrist. I am having my therapy. There is something about the written word that lays your soul bare, and makes you take stock in yourself and those around you. I have lived a life of ups and downs, and they are the hills and valleys of my story through words. I want nothing more than to help my fellow man, and I feel my contribution is to be through words and feeling. I have made so many mistakes in my life with people that are still in my life, and people that are distant memories. I want to make those things right in some way, and though I cannot change history, I can learn from it and become better for it. My writing helps me do that.

The legacy we leave behind is all we have when we are gone. I gave up the idea of riches long ago, having learned the riches of family and Christ. My legacy is to be one of words, and testimony. My legacy will be for any who want to get a true form of human expression. When I write, I put that feeling that I am experiencing in my writing. It is very subtle, yet it screams off the page when I read it later. I want my kids to know that emotions and expression are vital reasons to live. I want them to know that I felt these things, and embraced them. I want them to know the inspirations they brought into my life through the miracle of their birth.

Mostly, I want them to have my humanity and love for them on paper. I want those who I may have hurt to know that I have changed from the ways of my mistakes. I want the world to have a snap shot that I was here, and that maybe I made a difference in some small way. I need not know you, or even know that you read my work, to still feel the benefits inside. It is for all of these reasons that I write, and many more. We all leave our mark on the world, and I hope that my mark lingers after I am gone.