17 March 2011

15 Reasons to Write Today

by Carrie Bailey

I seem to have misplaced my motivation. Maybe this has happened to you. A goal is set and you start... clickity clackity... you're banging the keys like champion, but midway through the exhaustion sets in and you find yourself at standstill... 

Well here's 20 reasons to write and write right now...today:

  1. Writing is the most noble profession in the world. It's not a day job, it's a way of life.
  2. Other writers. There's no more interesting people in the world than those who have cultivated a unique ability to communicate. Even the dullest person who just sits at home eating sausages all day as a writer can make those sausages sizzle with their verbal artistry.
  3. You love it. 
  4. People are waiting to read your work. There's something mysterious and beautiful about the product of a writer's labor. Even if people don't appreciate it, they're still just dying to take a peek.
  5. Maybe someday, if you haven't yet, you will be able to quit your day job.
  6. Writing gives you a shot a immortality. Granted, a lot of things do that, but writing is one thing you might actually want to be remembered for doing.
  7. Writing is cathartic. Many people have healed broken hearts and overcome the most difficult situations by finding their voice in the written word.
  8. Practice, practice, practice.
  9. You owe it to all the writers who you've enjoyed over the years to make your contribution to the massive body of literature.
  10. Writing sets an example for young people.
  11. You're the only one who can tell your story.
  12. Library shelves don't fill themselves.
  13. It's better than milking cows.
  14. Writing is the perfect excuse to hang out in coffee shops and overindulge in your caffeine addiction.
  15. Your characters miss you.

Carrie Bailey is the co-editor of Peevish Penman who is currently struggling to establish a daily writing routine. 

3 comments:

  1. So cathartic. I feel like laughing only because I haven't written in so long and tonight I cracked jokes at myself. It's something.

    Thanks for the list, my inner coffee beast is growling.

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  2. I dunno, milking cows is pretty fun...

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  3. I'm alright with the cow milking, but writing about cow milking... that's where the real fun is ;).

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