by Sarah Sally Hamer @SarahSallyHamer
Why do we write? Why do YOU write?
Sometimes, especially when I’ve just gotten a rejection letter or a bad review, or someone has scribbled edits across a manuscript, I wonder why I write. Why do I stick the rejection letter into a file and go write something else, or take a big, deep, cleansing breath and start working through the red ink?
Because writing soothes my soul.
I’ve been “writing” even before I could put words on paper. My folks often told me that my imagination would get me into trouble—and, unfortunately, in some ways they were very right! But creating stories, playing with dolls, puppies, other children, and making up situations of all kinds was how I reconciled a world I didn’t understand as a child. Not that almost every child doesn’t put on a mask and cape and pretend to be a superhero. Yes, we all do. It’s a part of growing up.
But, like Peter Pan, I wanted to stay in that magical, fairy world, where I had sovereignty over events. Everything was an adventure. Everything was fun and exciting. And, everything was a place where I could create a happy ending.
Of course, I had to grow up and take responsibility for my life, but that doesn’t mean the little girl with goggles and a magic screwdriver who loved dragons and mermaids doesn’t still exist in me. And writing stories is the perfect way for me to express those things.
Remember, writing isn’t just about font choices and caffeine dependency. It’s a superpower, something that makes us soar above the clouds. With just 26 letters and a bit of nerve, writers can build entire universes, break hearts, or make readers snort-laugh coffee out of their noses. We writers have the ability to change lives, simply by writing about our own. We make people laugh and cry without even knowing them. We share our loves, our hates, our dreams, putting them out into the world with courage and commitment.
Yes, writing can be a treacherous path littered with plot holes, rogue commas, and the existential dread of realizing you just used the word “just” fourteen times in one paragraph. People, some of them considered experts, have arrows that slice through our skin, creating wounds that can affect us for years. Editing a story to fit into a genre can be like tearing down your house to find the amazing cottage that exists inside it.
And, sometimes, we will even give up on our dream of writing—life intrudes! We can lose the wonder of how a perfect sentence can punch, sing, or sparkle just right, where we find both joy and excitement, knowing it’s perfect, like a newborn idea wrapped in ink and hope.
Don’t let that happen! Please! Don’t allow yourself to not create magic. We all have times when we don’t have the energy to allow the words to come. But it’s like an iris. The bulb of this beautiful flower has to go through a process of renewal every year. From the cold ground when it lies dormant, to the warmth of the sun on the dirt allowing it to slowly awake, to the single stalk and the blooms of purple and gold and blue (depending on the variety, of course), the creation happens in the proper time and place, when inspiration is nurtured.
How do you nurture your own creativity? How do you allow yourself to rediscover the magic and joy of your imagination? What are your soul-fulfilling and stimulating secrets?
TWEETABLE
A teacher of memoir, beginning and advanced creative fiction writing, and screenwriting at Louisiana State University in Shreveport for over twenty years, she also teaches online for Margie Lawson at www.margielawson.com and for the No Stress Writing Academy at https://www.worldanvil.com/w/classes-deleyna/a/no-stress-writing-academy. Sally is a free-lance editor and book coach, with many of her students and clients becoming successful, award-winning authors.
You can find her at info@mindpotential.org
Thank you, Sally, for so eloquently reminding me of why I write. I connected with your words on many levels. Reading your love letter has given a triple espresso shot to the writer in me, who's been recently plagued by doubt and distractions.
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