“That’s why I write, because life never works except in retrospect. You can’t control life, at least you can control your version.” ― Chuck Palahniuk, Stranger than Fiction

October 20th is National Day on Writing, and one of the hashtags for this day is #WhyIWrite. I had a whole other post in progress initially for this day, a travel post keeping in mind my few previous travel Thursday posts. But then I recalled the date and this random holiday dedicated to writing! So I simply had to write about writing, or more about why I write!

Right from the time I could pick up paper and pen, I recall enjoying writing; be it simply practicing my cursive, or simply scribbling down some random words to make up something else; be it an essay for a contest or for the school magazine; or maybe simply words strung together simply so I could write something!

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Writers On Writing

I reviewed a book titled Why We Write a couple of years ago. To repeat myself, this book is a must-read for readers and writers alike, for so many reasons. Check out my thoughts on the book for yourself here.

George Orwell’s essay titled ‘Why I Write’ lists the following reasons for why he thinks all writers write:

• sheer egoism
• aesthetic enthusiasm
• historical impulse
• political purpose

You can read his whole essay at the Orwell Foundation’s website.

Joan Didion wrote an article with the same title, starting off her article by stating that she stole the title from George Orwell! She points out at the beginning that these three words have the same sound in them: the “I” sound – Why I Write – each of these three words carry the sound I to make for a repeated – I I I when we say them out loud. Her article is a must-read on writing and on being a writer, so be sure to read it for yourself at Lithub.

But I digress from the title of this post, so let me move on to listing 13 of the many reasons

Why I Write

Why 13? Because “Thirteen reasons why” why; and I keep recalling the Thursday 13 meme I link to occasionally, or rather, seldom (and the writers there I love to read!); and lastly, simply because 13 seems to be a good-enough number for a list (not too small and not too much). Like a “Goldilocks right” kind of list. I have written similar posts before (here and here) and this list will have some overlaps with those, since they all talk about the same thing.

Anyway, here they are (definitely neither a comprehensive list nor a “top thirteen” one, but 13 of them anyways):

1. I write because I don’t think I cannot not write
2. Writing makes me happy
3. To forget and and not to(forget, I mean) as well
4. I write to learn, and to share what I learned
5. Writing helps me put things in perspective
6. and helps me muddle things delightfully (or not)
7. To reinvent myself
8. and to discover who I really am
9. Writing lets me expand my world
10. and helps condense it to words on a page
11. I write to travel in time and space
12. and to strengthen my roots in place
13. Simply because…. I need to….

And of course, as a young girl (well, even now), I loved getting those beautiful stationary sets and books to write in, as well as that beloved Hero ink pen (now replaced by other kind of beautiful pens and pencils). Jus some more reasons…

Related Reads

• 3 Helpful Books on Writing
• 5 Nifty Ways You Can Easily Improve Your Writing
• What Your Writing Style Reveals About You

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, now that you have read my reasons for writing, which of those do you think fall in sync with how or what I write, from a reader’s perspective? I know, a question that requires some thought!! Sorry about that.. But for something more straightforward, why do you write? Or what is your ‘why’ for whatever you enjoy doing the most?