backyard crowing



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writing exercise

why do i write?

i write because i need to write. there are some things i don't feel comfortable telling the world, or anyone i know, so for them i have words. i cannot share everything i feel, and i doubt anyone else can, either. we all have our secrets.

i write because i'm secretive. it's in my nature, i'm an introvert. secrets are part of my lifeblood, i love them. without secrets the world seems less interesting and mysterious.

i write because (perhaps) i want others to think i'm a writer. perhaps i want to think i'm a writer, too.

i write because i believe i can be revolutionary, and my life and stories if told the right way could be fascinating.

i write to defy my writing teachers. they have their rules and topics and pet peeves, but if i ignore them, i believe i can still write an original paper. no one anywhere ever got along following the rules.

i write because it's a part of my personality. i'm quiet, and i enjoy spending time alone, reflecting. my writing is a result of my reflection. for me, hanging out by myself is fun. i enjoy going to public places alone, too--movie theaters, concerts, restaurants--not having anyone with me means less stress, and more observation. besides, when you're on your own you meet people you might never have noticed had you brought a posse. and even if you had noticed that person, you might have felt obligated to pay more heed to your friends, to not let them down. when i meet someone i like, i want to get to know them, not feel like i shouldn't.

i write because some people get famous doing it. that's definitely not my main reason, because most people don't, but it's fun to think about.

i write because it's art, and i love art.

i write because i can't draw or paint. maybe i'll be able to take pictures though, i don't know. i'm taking a photojournalism class next semester, i guess i'll find out then.

i write not because i think i have a specific, earth-shattering story to tell, but because someday i might.

i write because i like my handwriting. i believe everyone's handwriting is unique, and that it reflects on who we are, and how we feel when we write about a certain topic. i don't know that just because a person writes with a forward slant, they're looking eagerly toward the future, but in some sense our handwriting is a part of ourselves. we are taught as elementary schoolers how to form the letters so that teachers can understand, but after a while penmanship loses its importance, and we can reinvent our handwriting style with whatever we deem appropriate, switching between print and cursive, or dotting our 'i's with little hearts in love letters.

and in this regard typing makes penmanship a lost art. as we memorize where the keys are, we become less and less reliant on the speed and finesse of our pen.

i write because i enjoy writing. i can sit down at my computer, or under a tree, or in a train, and lose myself in my thoughts. i don't need to be anywhere specific, as long as i have at least a notebook and a pencil. writing is freeing; once the words are down on paper they're (sometimes) a bit less threatening. for instance, if i have a problem and i must decide one way or the other what i'm going to do about it, i will write a list of the advantages and disadvantages of both. like this i can see numbered before me exactly what it is i'm thinking, and the wiser decision usually becomes somewhat clearer. writing serves as a decision-making device.

i write because writings have moved me. when i was in elementary school, i was reading some mystery novel that captured my fancy, and i remember thinking, "i want to do this. i want to be this person who makes me feel the way i do now!" when i discovered that the people out there who wrote books existed, and that i could be one of them, i didn't want to do anything else.

i write because writing makes me unique. most people i know don't write everyday. my foreign exchange student sophie asked me one day, "why do you keep this journal?" i told her, "for posterity." and i did indeed know the word for posterity in french, because i had looked it up earlier in the dictionary. the funny part of that whole conversation is that she did not know what posterity meant, but her friend did. i obviously keep a journal for more reasons than just posterity, but my french is not good enough to express all my reasons.

"You are all my reasons." - A Beautiful Mind

i write because when i'm in love, i simply must! i write because i'm romantic and idealistic.

when i think about it, journalism is not only writing to communicate information from the victim to the source, but also to remember and reflect. in two hundred years, the new york times will still have records of today's news. journalists are historians. i never thought that before!

remember, reflect, reminisce. a triple R, yippee!

i write because i enjoy alliteration, apparently. i also get a kick out of puns and spoonerisms. i'm a nerd. geek pride, represent!

words are just plain fun.

i write because i love the "what-ifs" of life. when i ponder situations that could have occurred some other way, i laugh to myself at the extreme fixes i could get myself into. people ask me why i'm laughing, but it's difficult to explain. if i say, "oh, i was just imagining if such-and-such had happened, then i could say blah blah blah!" i have gotten some strange looks after explaining myself, especially from mom. ah, well!

i write because someday somebody somewhere might enjoy reading me. i write not for them, but for myself. i write to be understood, and to understand. i write because it's therapeutic. i write so that when i'm eighty i can laugh at how trivial my "monumental" problems were.

i write to make myself laugh. when i was in junior high i wrote an online quiz called AskMeSumthin. i know, LAME. but to this day, if i'm feeling down, that absurd 7th grade humor brings a smile to my face, so i go back and reread it. i suppose i shouldn't laugh at my own jokes, but really, who cares? if a stupid quiz can make a crying girl giggle, then bring it on.

i write to put things into perspective, to 'keep it real.'

i write because i enjoy exaggeration. i like making short tales into tall ones, and telling it like it would be, if the world were tilted in a stranger fashion.

i write because i like shocking people. i like getting a rise out of them, and making them think twice. i enjoy seeing people weirded or freaked out, or surprised. i like catching them offguard, getting their attention. i guess that means i'm an attention-seeker. boo.

i write because at 4:54 in the morning, there's not much else to do.

good night.

4:54 a.m. - Thursday, May. 18, 2006
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