joanne Weck Author Page

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

WHY WRITE ? WHY PUBLISH?



"Writing's easy. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and cut open your vein." (Variously attributed)




My Muse's Interpretation of her Portrait



"Why write at all?" Every writer must occasionally ask this question as I do, especially when the thought of putting words on a blank screen or paper seems as inviting as sticking needles into my eye. However, for every morning when writing seems painful, there are more mornings when sitting down to my computer while the rest of the world sleeps seems as indulgent as eating chocolate for breakfast. I sip my morning coffee and go into a pleasurable trance that may last for more than the two hours I demand of myself. My answer to feeling stuck--just sit down to write as though I feel the Muse whispering in my ear, spend the time even if nothing pours forth.

I write, as most writers do,  because it is a passion, an obsession, an addiction. Mine started when I was six and wrote my first poem. I experienced the "writer's high" for the first time, a connection to my spirit and a joy in composing something original. After that I spun out stories and poems like a spider spinning out a silken web. I write because if I don't I feel choked, incomplete, unfulfilled.

So to the second question, "Why publish?"If the pain and pleasure is in the process why suffer the rejection involved in the elusive goal of publication?  My answer has nothing to do with being famous or rich or even the need to for validation. It has to do with sharing my inner vision, wanting to join in the conversation of all writers past and present. The spirit demands expression of its unique voice and it needs nourishment and feedback to survive and continue to create. A painter doesn't generally hide her pictures in a closet; neither does a writer (except perhaps J. D. Salinger) lock his efforts away in a drawer until after his death. The essence of writing is the desire to communicate. WRITE ON!

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