Why

There are certainly a wide array of reasons for writing. I know I have many and I feel it necessary to often remind myself (really, who reads this but me?) of these reasons. So, self, listen closely.

You write because communication is an essential characteristic of humanity and since you are often curt while speaking you must write in order to fully express yourself. What is said can never be unsaid, but what is written can always be edited or erased. Even after I post this entry I can simply go delete it if I wish. I have total control. No one talks back when I write. My own mind may tell me, "that's stupid don't say that." After all, my mind's got a mind of it's own. And writing to yourself is not as crazy as talking to yourself. Or is it? Maybe that will be the next poll question.

You also write to sustain your creativity. Without work or school you find yourself reading a great deal and your mind drowns itself daily in a sea of ideas. Without taking the time to write what you think your thoughts will be washed ashore, forever beached. Writing does something to you that you cannot quite explain, but other people who toil over the structure of a single sentence or agonize over an essay's organization know how you feel. The process of choosing that perfect way to say something is never finished. Ultimately, a writer always settles for the least disgusting.

There are also the platitudes of writers. Perhaps my words will be read by some future generation. Perhaps the scrawling found in my journal will touch someone in a profound manner someday. Perhaps today. In the end, you write for yourself; for you own well-being. You either have some sick obsession with self-inflicted agony or you use it as a nepenthe. Perhaps both.