Why Write?

Writing, it seems, like religion, relationships and anything worthy in life, can be used for a false pretense. What motivates us to write? And is what we are writing a means to an end? And is the means to an end a respectable means?

With all the money out there now for your opinion of consumerism, whether political or material...for blogging and recommending one product over another...somehow makes me uneasy. I don't charge my friends for recommending an awesome read I just put down. I just offer to let them borrow it if they'll just simply return it.

But what's in it for me? That's the mindset I've been noticing lately. I want to write because I feel my experience could make a connection to those I'm not connected with. Maybe I could inspire someone as I've been inspired, maybe actually help someone. I want to be heard. But wait, I too have to pay my bills. And it'd be nice to vacation more than once in awhile. So the temptation comes about...I'll just plug this 'xyz' and I can ensure I'm paid to keep writing. But what about those who are paid to keep silent, or rather threatened with their life to keep silent, or even killed to be kept silent?

I can cast a nasty light on materialism affecting the blogs, tweets and what have you out there. But what about the dark places kept dark so that the truth is sealed. Which reminds me of why we began writing at all. As humans I believe writing was motivated by a need to reveal truth. And maybe when we forget it, as we so often do, it serves as a handy reminder.

The written word whether by keys on a cell phone, a #2 pencil, a hand carving, it all serves a purpose. And that's why we write. Distinquishing between the truth and the fiction, now that's another skill and another converstation I'll have to write about...