Friday, May 22, 2009

Ponderings of a Writer

What is it about a blank page that begs to be written on? Is it the fresh, new start? Is it the chance to leave a mark, a lasting impression where none exists? Is it the simple flow of ink from pen to page?

Before computers and even before typewriters, one used paper and pen to build volumes of inspirations and stories. Did the writers of old stare at a new sheet of paper with more respect than we writers today regard the next page, an easily discarded piece in our computer documents?

Do we slave and strive today to fill our pages with words that matter? Life-changing, soul-wrenching, spirit-cleansing words? Or have we become one of many medias bombarding the masses with shallow and selfish information designed to give a quick fix of entertainment satisfaction?

So many ponderings...so many words to ask one simple question. Why do we write?

3 comments:

Heather Diane Tipton said...

paper and ink were precious back then... made it more important to not waste time writing drivel.

The flip side is they didn't have a blinking cursor blinking at them taunting them....

we write because it was what we were created for. It's our gift, our calling.... as much as we like to think it's a curse... it's a blessing.

Chas. Funderburg said...

We write because if we didn't, we would explode. Our heart and our head couldn't hold in the creativity yearning to be free.

I still find it interesting that I've been a computer programmer for more than 30 years, and about a year and a half ago, the ideas in my head became the impetus for a book.

I agree with Heather: we were crated to write (whether we like it or not). It is our calling. Jonah had a calling he tried to ignore, and it ended up being a painful and humiliating experience for him.

I must write, or I'm telling God, "I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid [my] talent ..."

May Heaven help me if I do ...

Chesh said...

As I tell everyone, I write so that my characters will let me sleep and not drive me completely insane...well, it's either that or satisfy the voices in my head. LOL!