Who do you write for?
***photo by lowjumpingfrog
I was reading my friend (and neighbor) Bob's blog recently and found myself quoting the old "who do you write for?" question. Meaning that when you do something creative, you should not do it for the praise or the money or any other reason than your own personal growth and enjoyment. It got me thinking about my own blog and how I love to do it but lately have found myself in a bit of a rut. I've WANTED to write plenty of times, sure. But here I sit at a blank window, until my time runs out and I haven't written a thing. Better luck next time, I say.
Then I think, well, why am I writing anyway? I think there is a lot of value in writing every day just to keep your brain going (for me at least), yet I find that I don't seem to have that much material a lot of the time. I'd like to think that I would have SOMETHING worth saying on a somewhat daily basis, but that isn't always the case. And then there are the posts that lie unwritten in my head all jumbled up. I want to write them but I am just in a stagnant haze for some reason. It will pass. I know this because it has before. But I find it interesting nonetheless.
And to answer my own question, I write for me. I write for my family and friends across the country who like to keep up with our lives, I write for the passerby who happened to find this blog by accident. And I write for Oscar so that he will one day know how much he means to us. I write to get better at writing and because it's something that is mine. I write to stay connected and share my life. And I think those are pretty good reasons.
By the way, if you haven't stopped by Bob's Blog lately, you should. You won't be sorry!
4 comments:
Those are all great reasons. I agree. I in this kind of quandary myself. Do I want to write because I love to write and feel like some of what I have to say is helpful? Or do I want to write to have a little extra mad money? Money to go see our foreign exchange student in his own home and to pay for my hobby and to buy some books for my college bound son? No one is putting pressure on me but me. Thanks for sharing your reasons, it helps me in my internal dilemma.
I write to remember. My memories get fuzzy, so this is why I write very clearly about how things really are. My family keeps up with my blog too, so it is a good way to communicate information.
I am constantly having to remind myself of this. I write for me so I can remember. Often I feel the pressure to write in hopes of more and more comments or to consider monetizing the blog, but it's not really what I want.
I write to remember. I need to remember that. ;)
-Abby
I write because I know how unceasingly cool I am and the world is simply better off reading my crap! Hahahahahahhaa! Totally kidding. Writing forces me to think more succinctly and concretely about little musings that are in my head. So in that sense I'm just writing for myself. I'm like one of those people who just likes to hear themselves talk!
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