Why we write!

A writer must write. A singer must sing. A dancer must dance. That's what a calling is for. Imagine being able to wake up each day and to that thing, the thing that you love to do the most? Wouldn't that be amazing? Wouldn't that be great?

I have a friend. Let's call him "T." T loves to read and write, but can never find time to sit and put pen to paper. T's always talking about the kind of things he'd like to write about. Ideas just flood his brain, flowing fluidly through his mind and out of his mouth from where they disappear into the ether. Never to be recorded permanently. It's probably the lure of writing, the imagined creative release that draws T towards the art. The actual practise, being a task, never happens. So T sits there, imagining pages flooded with his genius. All in his head.

Dreaming is also an art. It's very easy to do since it requires very little physical effort. You don't even have to close your eyes. You can do it while sitting, even when someone's talking to you. You can dream and they won't even know. Writing's different. You have to be conscious. You have to think and then turn those thoughts into solid images, words. It's like thinking, then seeing then acting. It's hard because you're actually doing the same thing at least twice, if not more. You think of a dog. You then picture the dog. You then pick up your pencil and write... "I see a dog." Then you think to yourself, that's not what I wanted to say. So you erase that sentence and you write... "I see a big, brown dog." Now you're getting tired because the words you've written don't describe the dog that you're seeing. The dog that you're seeing in your minds eye is active, full of energy and life. It's looking at you with anticipation. Perhaps it wants to play. It's on edge, just waiting for your attention. That's not what you captured. It's easy to see, not so easy to describe.

So you dream more, and write less. Perhaps later we can find a way to make this easier.