"Why Do I Write?" by Luc2

So many of you shared your hearts during last week's Friday Fricassee. I enjoyed reading each one -- the pithy and the serious alike. It's a special kind of encouragement, methinks, that comes from this kind of soul-sharing among writers. I thank you all.

Luc2's contribution is beautifully written and captures so much truth about what it means to write. Without further ado, here is his comment from last Friday:

Why do I write? I write because I can raise armies to fight my demons, build castles to guard my secrets, and dig holes to bury my fears. I create characters to travel to the exotic places I can’t go by myself, to gather riches I’ll never have and to encounter other people and beings which I’ll never meet by myself.

With writing I unleash the dragon from within, to tame him, to fly on his back over the world, and sometimes to slay him. Over and over again.

I write to distance myself from my everyday troubles, but also to help solve them. I create a certain distance, yet stay close to myself. When I write, I solve problems that I can’t seem to solve in real life, stand up to people who I normally follow slavishly, and prevail in situations which I’ve always avoided outside the written world.

I write so I can recapture wonderful moments of my life, as well as create moments I wished I had. I write about the good and bad in life, but in a different setting and with different consequences. Or not.

I write about a chaotic battle, and thus create order in my head. I create a scene where a character is tormented by storm and rain, enjoying the roof over my head. I let my MC put his feet up before a fire in the hearth, brandy in hand, and I relax myself.

Why do I write? Because these words on paper or computer screens are incantations which provide their own little moments of magic. The words are spells to give me pleasure and contentment, wards against whatever bad is out there.

I write despite the frustrations and pains of the process, and also because of them. Without them I would never truly appreciate the thrill of a well-crafted scene, the satisfaction of unearthing a nice little character trait or the pride in a perfect sentence (until the next revision).