Mar
13
Why We Write
Filed Under writing from home
“There is really only one
reason for doing anything:
To be born, and reborn,
and live in between
the deaths.”
(final stanza of Cin Salach’s poem “After Birth”)
I know it’s against the Cardinal Rules of Blogland for a writer to blog about poetry, but nothing except this poem really illustrates what I want to say. And I’ve never been very good at keeping commandments.
Writing is my life. It’s what I spent most of my waking hours doing. When I’m not writing, I’m thinking about writing. I dream about writing, and I steal ideas from my dreams to write about.
I’ve always fully believed there are only two real reasons we write: it’s your passion or it’s your job. Sometimes the two combine; I write for work and for pleasure.
Last night on the train ride home from the city, I sat next to a writer. I recognized her by the two pencils in her hair and the stack of library books she had to move for me to sit down. She broke the Unspoken Train Code by speaking to me (outside the allowed “excuse me” or “bless you”). For forty minutes, we talked about writing. In forty minutes, what she said to me is this:
“What all writers have in common is we write to communicate. Without communication, we can’t live. We write to save our own lives.”
And it makes sense. From e-commerce copy to poetry, outstanding writing communicates best because it reaches the reader. Whether it’s to obey the muse or to pay the rent, we write to save our own lives.
This might not sound as brilliant to you as it did to me, but I was really in awe of this idea. I jotted it down in my “things to blog about” notes. I took the notion to bed with me last night.
When I woke up, I had a stanza of poetry running through my head:
“This is not a clean place.
There are not drawers
to fit everything.
Sometimes the rubbish
piles up so high, it is
taller than me.
It could be a forest.”
I knew it wasn’t from one of my own poems, but I couldn’t place whose it was. On an OCD, BC (before coffee) mission, I had to dig through a stack of thirty or so poetry books to find it. When I finally did, I wasn’t surprised to find it was the opening stanza of the poem I quoted above.
The poem is about life, not writing. But I think for many of us the two are synonymous.
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23 Responses to “Why We Write”
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About Amy Derby
Formerly a corporate paralegal, I ditched the pantyhose to begin freelancing in 2004. I enjoy long walks to the coffee maker, never setting an alarm clock, and not wearing a bra to the (home) office. I can be reached at amy.derby (at) gmail.com.
Ah, what a beautiful post, Amy! Well done.
I can just see you sitting next to that girl, her moving the stack of books so you could sit down, and then you two chatting excitedly about your passion for writing. Yes, I think the two are synonymous. And… I just love how you said OCD, BC. You’re a hoot!
Smiles,
Michele
She was really cool, Michele. You’d have liked her. My OCD takes on an even rarer form before I’ve had my coffee. Especially now that I’ve quit smoking. It’s seriously scary.
Hi Amy,
A very well written piece that speaks to my heart.
Quite simply, thank you.
PS - I think you and I are pretty similar before we have our coffee…
Thanks, Brett. I’m happy you enjoyed it. I thought you might like it. You and I do seem to have some similar ways about us. Interesting about the coffee thing though. I’ve never met anyone else who is like that.
Hey! Here I am. I think Blogger has calmed down.
I like this layout Amy, and I really enjoyed your poem. I also like this list you have of paying markets. Very nice. I’m doing a bit of spring cleaning on my blog today.
Hi Amy - you are quite welcome. I just remembered now to subscribe to your feed. I had meant to do so the other day, forgot, and then was pleasantly greeted by your words when I stopped in today.
I agree with you, we do have a few similarities. The coffee thing is quite funny too. I have three or four different coffee machines, and even then sometimes make Turkish coffee in a pot when I need an extra kick.
Thanks again. I’m going to re-read this post a few times.
I recognize Cin Salach from the IndieFeed Performance Poetry podcast. They have some great poets featured!
This is well said Amy. Communication is really the bare essence of writing, and most art forms, I think. There are many ideas to share and many ways to share them, but communication is certainly the crux of writing.
Melissa Donovan
Writing Forward
@Ellen - I’m wondering if the blogger issues today had something to do with the maintenance they’ve been doing the past few days. Either way, I’m glad you were able to finally post your comment. Sorry it was such a pain!
@Brett - I responded to your comment about the machines earlier, but apparently blogger ate it. Weird tech things happening all over my world today. Anyway, what I never got to say (but said) before was that you’ve got my coffee addiction beaten for sure. I buy the boldest roast beans they sell locally, and if the local shop is out (I don’t drive), I get all depressed about having to buy the milder blend.
@Melissa - Cin is one of my favorite poets. Her book is good, but she’s better live. She’s a local Chicago gal, so I’ve had the pleasure more than once.
*crossing my fingers blogger lets this go through*
@ Amy - technology is the solution to, and the cause of, a lot of life’s problems… sometimes leaning more to “the cause of”
Maybe Blogger needed a coffee today.
I’m not sure if I should be proud of having so much coffee making paraphernalia!
At the same time, I know how you feel. I cannot drink the coffee at work - it tastes like dishwater… coffee should be bold.
In any case - your words are stronger still 12 hours later. A great piece of writing!
Quit smoking, and it becomes the cause of.
I’ve almost thrown my laptop out the window several times this week. What stops me is the window is locked and seems to have frozen during the winter months, so I’m waiting on the thaw.
Where do you live, by the way? I know you said someplace that you’re not in the US, but I didn’t catch where you’re from.
Oh, back on the technology, my manuscript won’t go through the cyberwaves. I would have to divide it in chunks, I believe, because it is too large. I didn’t have time to do that today. But while I was working away, an idea did occur to me. I have a domain name reserved under my book’s tentative title. So I’m thinking of posting it chapter by chapter like an ebook, and doing the print-on-demand for anyone who wants a book-looking paper copy. I am all for electronic reading myself, because I feel badly for the poor little trees. But novels are one thing I like to hold in my hand, and many people seem to be that way. What do you think? I am thinking I will make the electronic chapters free (or maybe part of them, at least), and only sell the hard copies.
I’m going to bed as soon as I’m finished responding to the comments here. I’ve got a mudslide of a day tomorrow (Friday is also my invoice day with several clients), so I need some shut-eye. Unfortunately, I’m an insomniac (and no, it’s not from the coffee, because I can’t sleep with or without). I will ordinarily lay in bed for several hours thinking about work to do or creative stuff to write before I can go to sleep. It is very annoying.
Sleep well. Or stay awake well, if you’re in Australia. One of my Aussie friends blames me for conking him out during his workday when I “good night” him at 1am my time.
I hear you - I have tried to quit coffee before many times, and that was bad enough. I can’t imagine what it is like to do what you are doing, all I can say is “keep going”, and that is very much easier said than done.
I’m in Canada, Ontario specifically, a small town called Deep River about 3 hours west from where James of MwP lives, or 2 hours west of the capital city.
So now you know I’m an insomniac like you, as I have not had a coffee since about 5:30 pm. I get a lot of my work done early in the morning.
I like your idea of doing it electronically chapter by chapter, and also offering it as print on demand. I, too, prefer to hold a book. A book is different from many of the other communications we create, so I think it is okay to print books. They are more important, say, than the millions of memos and email messages that go out each day.
Other authors are successful doing this, and this is the way I will go as well. When I am ready to put my books out to the world, I feel it important to share the message as widely as possible. (I can think of authors such as Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross, they have done this with all or at least part of their catalogs.)
I’m going to head off now too. My family will be up in about 4 hours so I’d better get some rest, if I can - assuming I don’t get back up again. The last couple of posts I have done came to me around this time or later, after I had gone to bed.
So yes, sleep well too - if you can
At least the weekend is almost here!
I didn’t know where James was in Canada either. My geography skills aren’t so good, so I’d have to look up where you live to know where it is. By not so good, I mean I can’t even find parts of my own city. Thank god for google maps (TGFGM?).
Hope you got to sleep before your family woke up!! I watched a whole Seinfeld disk before I fell asleep, but at least I didn’t have to get up and write a post. I was laughing when I read that, because I have done that too. Sometimes it’s not even a post for myself, but one for a client. I’m crazy.
What books are you writing?
I commented one time to James about where I lived being like one of the lines in Star Wars, “If there’s a bright center to the universe, you’re on the planet that it’s farthest from.” - it is in a very rural area, so when you spoke of your local shop being out of coffee beans, I totally sympathize…
I like that acronym! I think I’ll remember it. Yes I did, but just barely - maybe 3:00 am and then the cat wanted out about 5:00, and the kids wanted to get up at 6:00 - coffee is my saviour!
You’re no crazier than I am, believe me… I wonder how I am able to function so well at work, with no sleep, and other people with 8 hours walk around in a daze.
Thank you for asking. One of them is just a personal spin on life change & productivity, which I thought was worthy enough to go as an e-book perhaps. I’ll be blogging about some of it shortly, once my new hosted blog is up.
The second book is more personal. It is a biography dedicated to my wife. We have four great children, and are very fortunate to have them. The oldest, a boy, is a surviving triplet and that pregnancy was very difficult for us emotionally. The other three children are triplets (2 boys, 1 girl) - luckily they are all healthy.
But - two weeks after my wife gave birth to the triplets, she underwent surgery for thyroid cancer.
It really gave me pause to think. I was 35 years old and faced with being a widower with four young children. I think perhaps that was when I started to change my thinking, to say “do I really want to be an engineer and work for someone else?”
My mother-in-law had said to my wife a few times that her life was a book, and somebody should write her story.
I started to write it on New Years Day 2007, very early in the morning after the celebrations had died down.
I’ll share some of this on a blog, too. I believe it to be my life’s work to write this book.
I can’t imagine going through any of that. I am so sorry. How old are your kids?
Beginning to understand why you need strong coffee……
Thank you for your kindness. It certainly has made us stronger as a family. I actually enjoy telling the story to other people, it helps.
My oldest boy is almost 7, and the triplets will be 4 this year.
Yes, the strongest money can buy…
Three 4-year-olds? So at one point you had three itty-bitties and a 2-year old? I would need an IV-drip of caffeine.
Oh wow. This I can’t imagine.
Please email me some pictures.
Yes, that’s right. I took the night shift as I need less sleep - so for all of 2004 and 2005 I could tell you what was on TV at 3:00 am…
It was hard work, but a lot of fun.
Yes, I will do that - I’d be glad to email you some pictures. They are a really cute looking bunch.
I can still tell you what’s on at 3am. Nothing worth watching. Hence my Netflix addiction.
Seriously though, I don’t know how you find time to write. Or do anything for that matter. I love kids, and I’ve been known to take on half the neighborhood’s, but I like to give them back at the end of the day.
If you don’t have my email address, it is amy.derby@gmail.com.
*waits patiently*
That’s exactly it in a nutshell, nothing worth watching at all. So I watch movies, the odd miniseries on DVD.
It is a challenge, for sure. So I have to make the time. I draft stuff when I’m sitting bored in a meeting, for instance
We are lucky to have one set of grandparents nearby so we can give them away from time to time… to go out for dinner and such.
I will send you a few nice photos later today. I’ll have to pull them out of my backups as my wife is the keeper of the photos, and believe it or not her laptop packed it in yesterday… so she is the proud owner of a new machine as of an hour ago, and I’ll be digging up all of her files!
I forgot you still have a day job. I was thinking you were working at home like I do. I used to get a lot done when I worked in an office. Practice group meetings (fancy words for lawyer lunches) were a good time to write a bit of poetry. I never did understand why they insisted I attend those things.
My sympathies to your wife on her laptop loss. I think mine is going to blow pretty soon. I kill an average of one laptop a year, and this one is showing many of the symptoms.
No rush on the photos. I am patient. Well, not always about all things, but about pictures I am.
Sadly I do (we watched Office Space again last night and it really made me shudder about Monday…) but on the other hand I am extremely time efficient so I can take little breaks at work and get stuff done.
Right now it works well for us. I am working hard right now though and I will get there. I really enjoyed this week off. Of course I realize self-employment isn’t a cake walk (I’m sure you know that) but I’d like to try something on my own.
A good friend of mine said a long time ago that she knew I’d have my own business someday. I don’t want to disappoint her!
They don’t last too long, do they? I’m surprised she had this one for so long (4 years) although I rebuilt it twice - luckily I’m pretty handy with that.
I won’t disappoint… I promise!
[…] up on my favorite blogs and to get some much needed sleep. As I was laying in bed, I thought about why we write, why we blog, why we do anything at all. Whether it’s to help someone else, to make a […]
Amy,
I just read this today because Kelly linked to it.
Awesome.
And I agree.
I write because I have to.It’s like breathing to me, It’s the first thing I do every morning since I was a little girl.
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post..The Pie Theory: A Story About Pie.