Why I Write

There is a blog hop doing the rounds at the moment and almost everyone I know in the blogging world has joined in, sharing with our readers why it is we do what we do, why I write. I avoided getting involved for a long time because I simply didn’t have the time and mainly because I didn’t know what to say. However, it seems to have become unavoidable and now, it is my turn to share why I write.

What am I working on?

I write lists, lots of them, on a daily basis. It is how I stay organised.

I write this blog. Most of which is done on a week by week basis and because I am time poor I don’t have anything squirreled away or in progress. I write it, I publish it.

I write in travel journals. I always take a notebook to jot down my thoughts when I travel so that I can read it later and conjure up all of the memories.

I write a novel. Sort of. My goodness, I probably wouldn’t technically call it that. And at the moment it is sitting dormant in a lonely little folder somewhere on my computer. One day I will find the time to continue with it. Who knows, it may make me a millionaire. Ha!

How does my writing differ from others of its genre?

This is difficult to answer because I am not sure what genre I am. If it is my blog I am referring to, some people classify it as a lifestyle blog. I write about my life and what is happening in it and what I surround myself with. It is unique in that it is mine. My thoughts. My life I am sharing. However for this same reason it is no different to what every other blogger out there is doing, writing to share their story. Same same but different.

Why do I write?

I think I have always had a creative mind and from a young age I was always reading and always writing stories. I once wrote a very serious love story that was full of horror called the ‘Red Red Rose’. I was 8. My favourite subject at school was English and I even won a scholarship at the end of Primary School because of my love to write. In high school I continued to love reading and began to analyse books more. My writing, out of necessity, moved towards more ‘boring’ topics and away from fictional creativity. At University I studied marketing and was awarded for my ability to write copious amounts of ‘bullshit’. Then life came along and I got caught up in the world of work and living and writing really fell by the wayside. Nonetheless, I have always read books, and to me this is important because I think that reading and writing tend to go hand in hand.

After having my first child, I began to find some free time (that magical quiet moment in the middle of the day when they rest) and I started to write again. I was living in Thailand at the time so I started a novel, of sorts, about that. Soon, I had my second child and writing disappeared in the time warp that small babies create. Once the sleep deprivation and constant neediness passed I began to write again. I did the Nanowrimo challenge and started writing another novel and I found that it was a great escape at the end of the day. I could take myself to another world and take the adventure whichever direction I wanted to. I escaped the world where I was mummy all day. When the month long challenge finished I let the writing slip by the wayside, struggling to find time to do it. The far fetched idea of it ever being published was not quite enough incentive to carve out the time.

Then I decided to start a blog. This blog. I found that this was a far more instantly gratifying way of writing and I enjoyed the sharing and community feel of it.

I write to expunge all of the clutter in my head. I write for personal enjoyment, the thrill of creating. I write as a means of sharing my thoughts with others, to help spread a little happiness, to inspire people. I write to be in control; there is no one to tell me what to do, what I can’t do or how to do it. I can explore ‘what if’ scenarios. I write for so many reasons, for you and for me. Overall, perhaps I write because it makes me happy, otherwise I wouldn’t do it.

How does my writing process work?

At the moment I just sit down and write from the heart, unedited. I don’t have the luxury of time to do much structuring, research and re-writing. When I have an idea for a topic to write about I usually jot it down on a list so that when it comes to writing a new blog post I can just choose something and write without too much thought. It is a process of rushed efficiency.

When I was writing my Nanowrimo novel I spent some time plotting out the structure of the story and plotted out the events and chapters. I researched the setting, the era, the names and then I started writing. I didn’t read back over what I had written, I didn’t edit. I just wrote and kept moving forward, blurting out the story and ideas day after day. When I finish the story I will go back to the start. Fix the holes, add more description, develop the story a little more.

After all of that word spewing – why do I write … Why not?!

 

Thank you to Rebecca from Seeing the Lighter Side of Parenting for hopping to me, now it is my turn to nominate three blogs to continue the blog hop.

Gayel from Modern Mummy Mayhem

Jodie from Tea and Autumn

Sanch from Living my Imperfect Life

Be sure to click through and say hello and find out why they write.

Linking up to Always Josefa and Maxabella Loves who both have a huge list of other bloggers who have joined in this Why I Write blog hop if you would like to read some more.