Some people like to write. Some love it. And some need it.
This was brought home to me when I read a quote about acting. You can read that quote on the International Movie Database under “Personal Quotes”. The actor who made it, William Schallert, obviously loved acting. He appeared in movies and TV shows as a supporting actor for decades, the kind of actor where you recognize the face but probably don’t know the name. His last screen credit was in 2014 when he was ninety-two.
While Mr. Schallert said a person shouldn’t pursue acting unless he needs it, I believe you can be a writer if you like it or love it. But when you need it to feel good about yourself, need it like you need food or sleep, you should take that need seriously.
I didn’t realize writing was a need until recently. I began writing in elementary school, and it became a regular habit in college. Once I had kids and a husband, I thought writing was a luxury, something I could reward myself with after I got all my family and household duties done.
Then my kids were old enough to attend school, and I could spend more time on writing and trying to get published And the more I wrote, the more I wanted to write. Especially when I write fiction, I feel a deep sense of satisfaction, like when you’ve eaten a particularly good meal or put in a strenuous day of physical labor and have something to show for it. When other demands on my time force me to forgo writing, I begin to feel cramped, anxious, like an athlete who can’t exercise.
Now that I understand this need, I am structuring my day differently. I put my writing first. When I get a lot of writing accomplished, I am ready to tackle less pleasant tasks, such as grocery shopping, with more energy.
Do you feel the need to write? How do you satisfy it?
I’m an overprotective parent. When it comes to my stories. Also, with my kids, but that’s not the point of this post.
Creative people usually aren’t limited to one area of creativity. If you’re main art is writing, what are your other creative outlets? I enjoying baking, but I’ve gotten away from it lately. I should really get back to it. I love photography, especially trying to capture the wonders of nature. That love of images spills over into selecting photos for my blog. Searching for public domain images has become a surprising joy.
Two years ago, I wrote on this topic and I thought it was worth revisiting during this month when I am blogging about the writing process. Because I have to deliver a short story by April 1, I recently rediscovered the benefits of reading out loud. I resorted to this practice because I have read and re-read and re-re-read my YA Christmas story, “A Rose from the Ashes” so many times that I had to go over it for a final polish in a different way.
Although I began writing in second grade, the urge didn’t really take hold until junior high. Maybe that was because the classes were so boring, I had to do something to keep my mind occupied. I wrote on any scrap of paper I found in my textbooks or notebooks. And I wrote in any class where the boredom didn’t just numb my mind but threatened to destroy it all together.