Sunday, January 8, 2012

Dori: Why do you write?

Because you seek fame and fortune?




Not likely if you’re writing for children.

Because you “can’t not write?” I don’t know about you, but I find it very easy to not write. I can always read a book, catch up on e-mail, meet a friend for coffee, take my dog for a walk, teach my dog a new trick, go to a Zumba class (LOVE my Zumba!), play my mandolin, volunteer at the animal shelter, blog, go to a movie, play a game of Scrabble, do a load of laundry, grocery shop, clean, organize a closet or three (the closets in my house REALLY need organizing)...there are a million things I can do every day instead of write.

But most days I write.

Why?

To make sense of the world?


For a long time, I believed this was why I wrote. Writing really does help me make sense of the world. It helps me explore ideas and resolve issues (both real and fictional). Writing also helps me figure out who I am.

But do you know why I really write...what really gives me satisfaction as a writer?

I write because I want to turn non-readers into readers.

It sounds a little egotistical, doesn't it? In fact, it sounds so egotistical that I almost scrapped this blog entry (after all, this is my first post on the Crowe's Nest!) and started a new one.

But it's the truth. I DO write to turn non-readers into readers. That's what it's all about for me. I write for reluctant readers. I also write for beginning readers. There's no greater thrill for me than to receive a letter that begins, "I didn't like to read until I read your 'Do You Know the Monkey Man.'" Or to have a child come up to me during a school visit and say, "Your 'Case of the Lost Boy' was the first chapter book I read all by myself!" That's what keeps me going.

How about you? Why do you write?



15 comments:

  1. If you're egotistical, I'm just as bad.

    I write because I read books that define me. Characters that define who I want to be and stories that define what I believe about people, religion, and pretty much every part of my life.

    But above all, I write because I've read books that helped me. Books that I could relate to.

    And now I'm doing the best I can to pay that forward. I write characters that I hope at least one person can relate to and connect with.

    I write to try and help that one person. Someday.

    So yes, if you're egotistical, I'm just as bad. :P

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  2. Sometimes I write in my blog. I'm trying to help people

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  3. I write because I enjoy it very, very much. :)

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  4. I write so that kids know that they're not alone. Others have felt what they feel, been through similar things, maybe even worse, and survived.

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    1. Yup! That's it for me, too. I especially want teens to know that they are not alone and that there is hope.

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  5. Because my niece once told me she had nothing to read and I should, "Fix it, Tia!"

    But, honestly, I write because when I'm doing it I don't feel like I'm wasting my time, but I have so much fun while I'm doing it (most of the time).

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  6. There are these *stories* that need telling and that make me go all shuddery. I want other people to go all shuddery too.

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  7. I think that's a FABULOUS reason! I think when I get my first "I didn't like to read until I read until" comment, I'll die of happiness.

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  8. I have people in my head and they won't go away.

    In all seriousness, though, I find writing incredibly cathartic. After a marathon writing session I emerge tired, but somehow relaxed. I get stressed really easily.

    I write for publication because I want to be read. I want some level of validation that all the time I've spent was worth it, and because I want to write books I love to read, as cliché as that sounds.

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  9. Your reason for writing resonates with me because that's one of my reasons, as well. The thought of being able to turn a child on to reading is something that is such an exciting possibility. It's also a great responsibility that I need to keep in mind as I write.

    I also write so that there will be books for kids like the kid I was. Here's hoping that those kids will be touched by what I write.

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  10. I write to inspire children towards greatness, and to encourage them in their troubles. They sound like lofty goals, but they really are quite simple!

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  11. I write because ideas just come to me. And because I love to read books so much that I want to write a book readers will love to read. And because books have made a difference in my life, and I want to make a difference to others and pass the love along.

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  12. I think that for all of us we write to touch and inspire a reader--maybe the reader we were. And if nobody was willing to be that egotistical, no books would get written.

    I write lots of things in my journal for processing and self-reflection, but writing for publication is a conversation: author to reader to other readers to non-readers that readers read or talk to and on and on. And hopefully the conversation comes back to the author as well.

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