Why do I write?
The question is really, “Why am I writing now?”
I’ve written for my entire life. I wrote essays for school. I wrote reports for work. I wrote recommendations for students. What has been missing in my writing was writing for myself. I teach literature and writing. Every day, I stress the importance of the written word. But I’m always focusing on other people’s writing.
I’m an insatiable reader: novels, stories, essays, news. I love to read. But part of me has always felt a bit hollow as a mere consumer of the written word. I love work-shopping essays with my students. At first, I decided to start blogging because I needed to have a better understanding of what my students experienced. I discuss this more fully on my “teacherly” website Socrates Underground. It had been so long since I had written, I was beginning to feel somewhat hypocritical when I made writing assignments. A strange thing happened, though; the more I wrote, the more I remembered how much I loved to write.
So, here I am at Spontaneous Whimsy, wandering around somewhat aimlessly. I write because it fulfills an almost visceral need to work with words. I love words. I love playing with their sounds, their endless combinations to say something meaningful or playful or important or funny or insightful or revealing.
This is not quite as deep as I had intended it to be, but when I saw the Writing 101 assignment, this is how the answer came into my head. I expect I will edit this later, but for now, this is why I write.
I taught literature and writing, too. I knew I was going to miss sharing writing aloud with groups when I left the schools to write and direct children’s theater. And I, too, abandoned my own writing especially in recent years when my district stressed much more production from students, more grading long essays and reporting from me. Looking forward to reading your own work.
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That’s exactly what I’ve been feeling. I also feel that falling back in love with writing myself makes me a better teacher.
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I like “spontaneous whimsy,” it’s clear that you love words!
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Oh, good!
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