It's IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of Alex Cavanaugh. To find links to other IWSG contributors, click here. A big thank you to co-hosts for November: Jemi Fraser, Kim Lajevardi, L.G Keltner, Tyrean Martinson, and Rachna Chhabria.
November question: Albert Camus once said, “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” Flannery O’Conner said, “I write to discover what I know.” Authors across time and distance have had many reasons to write. Why do you write what you write?
To my daughter’s annoyance, I’m the kind of reader you have to address several times before I look up saying, “Sorry. What?” My husband used to insist, “You remember, we saw this movie,” when the truth was, no, I didn’t remember because while he watched the movie, I disappeared into a book. How proud I'd be to write a novel that transports someone else the same way.
Like reading, I immerse myself in writing, but, unlike other parts of my life, when I write, good enough is never good enough. I spend hours striving for images that will strike the reader, trying to create characters who are not contrived, editing a piece once, twice, seventeen times, and then twenty-seven more. Writing well means walking away and returning to tweak, massage and re-write. It means trying harder than I try at anything else. The truth is, its the most honest and focused work I do. I love it and lose myself to it.
So, why do I write what I write? Because just like when reading, I come back to the real world blinking, a bit foggy, but always aware while I'd been visiting a fictional location, it was a place where I was my best me.
Why do you write what you write?
I was my best me. I like that!
ReplyDeleteI like that too! Like you, I work hard on revising my work many times to hopefully get it right.
ReplyDeleteI do disappear in good reading. This morning, in my attempt to avoid news, I finished Dirt Music by Tim Winton. So wonderful! But now I'm finished so anxiety comes in again. Maybe some poems will come out of this time for both of us.
ReplyDeleteKindred spirits. I often don't write because it does not feel good enough. In my brain, I have brilliant thoughts, but they don't translate the way I want them to care. It's a tough job, career, hobby. But we must keep on - wandering back and forth from the page. Carry on!
ReplyDeleteI think you've hit on something here. Writing is a way we can put our own stamp on the world, exert some control in a world that is often frightening and bewildering - and of course that's been amplified by a million this year, so we all need an escape more than ever. Great post.
ReplyDeleteGot a little bit of a chill reading your words. They resonate completely with me! Beautifully done!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Liza! This part especially rang true for me - "...I come back to the real world blinking, a bit foggy, but always aware while I'd been visiting a fictional location, it was a place where I was my best me."
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! I read like that, too. Many family jokes have been pulled on me while I'm reading.
ReplyDeleteHappy writing and reading in November!
I am so like you, I spend ages trying to make my revisions perfect! Until my editor screams that send that manuscript now!
ReplyDeleteRachna Chhabria
Co-host IWSG
Rachna's Scriptorium
About the only time I get totally lost in the writing process are the times I get lost in the zone. Those times are wonderful, but they don't happen too often for me. Sadly.
ReplyDeleteI do love disappearing into a story, whether it's one I'm reading or one I'm writing!
ReplyDeleteI don’t really write except for a monthly post and also some journaling during difficult times in my life. However, I love to read a good story with good writing.
ReplyDeleteYou love what you do and that is a beautiful thing.
Like you, Liza, I dearly love to disappear into a book and into my writing. I write because I have to.
ReplyDeleteAll the best to you in November!
I like that you're able to read in the same room while your husband watches a movie.
ReplyDeleteI also worry that there’s something missing in my writing, and have the same feeling every time I press “publish” on Blogger. But you have real writing talent along with a flair for poetry. Liza, you have much to be proud of in writing your “best me.”
ReplyDeleteJulie
Hi Liza - that's wonderful you can ignore all around you and embrace the book and its story for what it is ... well done - take care - Hilary
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about you yesterday. All of these "firsts" without our husbands are gonna be so difficult. Even so, I hope you managed to have a good Thanksgiving. Not the same, of course... but good. Take care. Sending a big fat virtual hug your way.
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