Why write?

Feeling reflexive lately (as I always do when Christmas is near!), I started thinking about why I write.

In fact I started thinking about anyone's reasons for putting pen to paper or finger to keyboard.

Here are some of my own. They could easily apply to you:

• Because we have something to say to the world. Not only that, we want to say it in the nicest, most effective way possible.

• Because we're dreamers, idealists and romantics. Writing is an escape from the everyday world. Why else would we create a different reality!

• Because we hurt and need to banish the pain from our system. I've written some of my most meaningful words while my life has gone through the grinder!

• Because it's in our nature to think about how the world turns... life... death... the way people are. Actually, if I say we think about everything, I can't fail to cover it.

At the start of 2011, I read a beautiful biography about Roald Dahl, the children's author. The bio told that he wrote for children more than for adults because he understood them better... got on with them better. 

So maybe writing is all about understanding the world and getting on with it. Perhaps we write not because we understand the world, but because we're still trying to figure it out. 

It's possible we don't even want to understand it, don't want to get along with it. That's sometimes the joy of writing!

What would your reason(s) be?