Why do we write?
There are as many answers to this question as there are writers. We write to tell stories. To create order out of the chaos in our brains. To remember things we’re afraid we’ll forget. To share and feel and expose. To release words that will eat us alive if we try to keep them inside.
But we are all fumbling through this. There are a million rules related to writing and exponentially more ways to break them. There is pressure to create something people will buy. To pitch and query and market. Did you even create if you aren’t publishing? Is self publishing really even publishing?
We’re so full of doubt. Even if we manage to get over the unbelievable hurdles of writing with children occupying every moment of your day and all of the space in your brain, we rarely know what to do with it. Will anyone even read the words that manage to escape onto paper?
Maybe not. Especially if you’re holding onto those words out of fear or insecurity or uncertainty. Here’s where it gets weird: You should write anyway. Forget about a culture that tells you that something has no value if you aren’t making money. Forget about what happens after. You can’t publish something you haven’t finished.
Write because you know you need to write. To remind yourself that magic exists. That you can truly create something beautiful out of the messy parts of your life. Take the time to articulate the things that you know deserve to be heard.
Even if it’s chaotic and coffee stained and written in crayon. Your words matter to someone. And if you are that someone, that is enough for right now.
About the Writer: Allie Gravitt is a mom of 3 and lives in metro Atlanta with a house full of animals. Her debut poetry collection, prisonbreaks, is available now on Amazon.
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