Road Trip Wednesday #101

This Week's Topic:

What's your numero-uno reason for writing?

I have stories to tell.

That's the real reason.  People have often given me slightly odd looks after reading stories and said things like, "I would love to be in your head for a little while."  But for me, I love being in my head.  I love that feeling when a story idea starts to creep.  And I want to tell the stories, so I can enjoy them fully, as well as other people.

The question can actually be taken in a lot of ways.  What's my reason for sitting down and plying pen to paper or fingers to keyboard at any moment?  What's my reason for sitting down and moving forward on my revisions, trying to beat a novel into publishable shape?  What's my reason for wanting to be a writer, for wanting writing to be a major, important part of my life?

The Abduction of Rebecca

Although one of my reasons is that I have stories, that I love the feeling of linking ideas together, of turning a scene, of coming up with a perfect pinpoint metaphor, writing, as a goal, is also very important to me.  In a way, it has to do with why I never read contemporary YA as a young adult.  The real world is disappointing.  It's full of problems.  And it seems impossible to actually be the sort of hero who can change things, who can change people.  The scope of our ability for independent action is so constrained.  How can I touch people?  How can I reach people?

I'm not someone who is trying to put a message in my books.  I'm too ambivalent about everything to proselytize.  But even from my small experience with writing fanfiction, the responses I would get, the people who would tell me how a new piece I posted made a shitty day better, or thanked me for giving something they could turn to when they were going through a tough time, it was such an amazing feeling.  It was like, "yes, this is something I want to do.  This is something that's worth it."

So yeah, the heady sense of power.  That's good too.