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Most writers I know don’t write for enjoyment. I’ll include myself in saying we write out of a sense of necessity. Often, we write because we have something to say, even when we aren’t sure what it is or how to say it. It’s a laborious, sometimes painful process, and I honestly don’t think I would do it if I felt like I had a choice.
This became the central point of discussion with some writing friends recently after I emailed them a quote I liked. The quote comes from Joy Williams’ in an essay called Uncanny the Singing that Comes from Certain Husks, published in Why I Write, edited by Will Blythe.
In a very brief excerpt from the essay, Williams writes: “Writing has never been ‘fun’ for me. I am too wary about writing to enjoy it. It has never fulfilled me (nor have I fulfilled it).”
I like this quote, and I identify with it, although I don’t completely agree with it. Sometimes, I feel a certain level of satisfaction when I write, but it’s usually fleeting. If I was completely fulfilled by my own words, then I think I would be able to stop writing. The necessity would be gone.
And while I feel some accomplishment when I finish something I’ve written (and possible don’t completely hate it and maybe decide to submit it for publication), I’ve never written anything so good that I’ve felt I could quit. Instead, feelings very-opposite-of-fulfillment immediately pop up when I realize I’ve only finished one work in time to start thinking about what’s next.
One friend asked, “When you figure something out that’s really important [when you’re writing], how is that not nourishing?”
I guess it is, or at least can be, but I think Williams’ point here is that fulfillment with us humans is typically only temporary, and that’s true especially for writers.
What do you think? Why do you write? And how do you feel after you’ve written? How do you know when you’re finished, that you’ve revised and rewritten as much as you can? Do you feel fulfilled?
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For years, I longed to write, believing this would be my path to relieving past demons. Or my path to placing my observations of the world out there for others to view. (I firmly believe all writer’s have a healthy ego.) Plus, my imagination was always at work, but it was being lost in the sea of life. Finally, I began to write. It was like a cleansing at first..wonderful. But the more I wrote, the more I had to write about. I’ve accepted that as long as I can see, feel, and think, there is something to write about. I am compelled, sometimes desperately to get words on the page. So far, I’m never totally happy with a finished product. Maybe, that will come…
@Reggie Jay, I think that as long as you are in the process, and are able to live through the process, you are well on your way to where you need to be. Happiness can be over-rated since it relies on emotions that change too quickly. Contentment is a much better judge of progress… Do you feel content in your progress? It sounds like you are becoming more open to inspiration. That is wonderful. All you need are your senses… and sometimes you need even less than that. Rilke said that you still have your childhood despite whatever happens now. There is always a source to draw inspiration from.
I write because I am. Ha! How I feel depends on what I’ve written. I’m much more satisfied with my poetry than my prose. I also enjoy the process of writing poetry more than the process of writing prose. As for knowing when you’re finished, didn’t a writer once say that a poet never finishes a poem, he abandons it?
I feel fulfilled but not necessarily satisfied when I’ve rewritten and revised and edited as much as I can. I don’t know that a writer is ever satisifed completely with his or her work.
satisfied.
I just wanted to say that i agree with you. You’ve just described me.