Thursday 31 December 2009

What Drives Me to Write

Over at My Quality Day, Sharkbytes has written about why she writes. It’s quite a lengthy post, but I very much enjoyed reading it.

And it got me thinking about why I write. I thought back down the years a very long time. When I was & years old I wrote a poem that was hailed as brilliant – for a seven year old. I can only remember the first verse now. It went like this.

Like a mist of darkness
Night falls fast.
But you need not be afraid,
It will not last.

Anyway, as I was too shy, my teacher read it out to the whole school and my head nearly burst with pride. (It was fluke of course, as far as poetry goes anyway.)

At eleven, I went on to a grammar school. A couple of years later, again I had a piece of creative work read out, but only in class this time. It was a monologue by a young boy, based on a play about a strike. We’d been told to write from the point of view of one of the minor characters.

Many years later, as a mature student on a media studies degree course, my adaptation of The Monkey’s Paw for radio was again read out as an example of good use of the medium. I was so much older then, but I felt exactly the same as I had when I was seven and 14.

There were other times too, like when we produced some plays for TV that I’d written, also at college. And I’ll never forget the letter from a features editor who accepted my first article and said how much she loved it.

So I think that’s why I write. I love stringing the words together, and striving for that proud feeling again. There’s just nothing in the world like it.

4 comments:

Sharkbytes said...

Jean- Awesome post. I'm honored that I inspired you to share. It sounds like you are really good at what you do. Why not come join Accentuate? (I get no benefit- I'm just sincere) The folks in the forum really encourage others to keep writing, and there is a protected forum where you can share stuff for critque (I haven't been brave enough for that yet). Monthly contests and more.

Joanne Olivieri said...

Great post Jean. And you are right, the feeling of stringing those words together to create art - well there is no feeling like that. I really enjoy your blog so much and look forward to it each day. Thank you and Happy New Year.

Unknown said...

Thank you Sharkbytes. I always enjoy reading My Quality Day, and you are clearly a great writer yourself (when you do get things finished). I will take a look at Accentuate, but I have been a member of Writelink for several years. It sounds as though Accentuate is similar to that. So I'd have to consider whether I need two of them.

Unknown said...

Many thanks, Jo. And your words induce the feelings all over again, so I'll have to keep going. I love reading your blogs, too, and your brilliant photography.

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