Writing is work. Whether you love it or whether you don’t.
Those of us that love writing, those who love anything really, know that when you set to work doing the thing you love as an occupation, you risk becoming disenchanted by it.
That has happened to me on occasion.
It has never gotten to the point where I’ve given up. It has never gotten to the point, in point of fact, where I couldn’t find the love, couldn’t see the good. But it has gotten tedious for me at times.
There was a nine year stint where I wrote ten blog posts a week on limited subject matter. I’m going to say that again. Nine years. Ten blog posts a week. That’s 4680 blog posts. Approximately 2,340,000 words … two million, three hundred and forty … thousand … words.
How did I keep going?
The answer to that is easy. I wrote more. I wrote other things.
I wrote 65,000 words of a novel … that I still need to finish. I wrote posts for this site, AScribe Writers. I wrote poetry for different publications. I wrote songs for public performance. I wrote articles for a couple of magazines.
And always, I wrote posts on social media. I wrote quick posts to make people laugh. Other posts were meant to make people go “Wow!” I wrote things to make people think about politics and poverty and housing and racism and ageism and elitism.
I wrote to make myself think
I wrote to bring me joy. I wrote without being obliged to, without being contracted to.
I wrote … wait, change the tense. I write because I love to.
I write.
I write because it makes me happy to know that I can communicate successfully the things I want people to know.
There’s a flow to it
There are many things in the world that work better when used. The skills required to play a sport. Or a musical instrument.
Another example is the ability to cook. Or the ability to create artistically. The skills to do many jobs can be honed through use.
And an imagination is another thing that flows better with use. And no, I’m not just imagining that.
Additionally, I write to keep in practice
I write so that I do not lose the knack of it. But also I write so that I do not lose the love of it.
I write because it is my most enjoyable way to communicate the pleasant things in my life. I write because it is through writing that I get to bring others some cheer. I write to make people laugh, or at least smile. I write to share love and happiness. I write because I get to share the things I know. I write because I get to make things up.
I write to say the things that are on my mind and in my imagination.
I write because the love of it is in my heart.
I write because that’s where my heart is.
Where is yours?
