Writers live at the confluence of a million possibilities. (The difference between the sun and a sunrise.)

I recently heard a writer on NPR say they write novels because they'd like to be a magician and change the world. Presumably, writing in this case is a cathartic response to injustice. The interviewer was somewhat nonplussed by this.

My own opinion is that even though that’s a fine reason to write, it’s not among the best reasons. It would be like teaching because you like kids and not because you like the classroom, or cooking because you like to eat, not because you like to work with food, or preaching because you love to talk, not because you love God.

None those are bad reasons, but they are not very good reasons.

Just my 2¢. I’ll never have the readers this writer has or be interviewed by NPR, so take it for what it’s worth.

This writer did say something very interesting at the end of the interview: "I feel better when I finish."

So do I, but never as fulfilled as when I'm in the middle of a sentence, that’s where the writer is most happy, at the confluence of a million possibilities.

The end of the matter is short-lived. We must write some more. And more. and more.

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What are good reasons to write?

Because you struggle to find an adequate description of your relationship with words that’s not laced with sexual connotations. (Supply your own. Any will do.)

 

Because if words were chocolate you’d weigh 800 lbs

Because there are no bad words, only words that hurt people.

Because words are music and the utter joy of conducting them is more important than what they mean.

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Most writers that get paid to write are tone deaf.

I’m not thinking of the writer I heard interviewed. I haven’t read her work. Just most of what you’ll find on a stroll through Barnes & Noble.

Can you make a living making music and be tone deaf? Sure. Watch some MTV.

(I could have said “turn on the radio,” but some of you don’t know you can still find music there.)

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Note that I didn’t criticize any writers or the pleasure we take in them, nor do I want to.

 

There is enormous value in storytelling. The world would be less interesting without JK Rowling or Dan Brown. But it would be less beautiful without Truman Capote or Carl Sandburg.

And that’s the difference I’m writing about here. It’s the difference between the sun and a sunrise.

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