This is so helpful. My writers group in Portland at Mechanics Hall Library is having this very conversation just this week! So many are stuck and ready to throw in the towel. A question has been raised "Why do we writer anyway?" Some of the answers align with your points.
It's great to know we are not alone, and this post validates that, like you knew! Thanks for sharing and for giving us space to submit and share our work for the pure value of writing, no judgement.
This conversation is one so many writers I know have. Why write? Writing is a creative act. If it is your art, your means of self expression, it can give so much back to you that has nothing to do with outside validation. I appreciate that. I love watching the transformation in writers as they work through their story. To me, that is magic.
I am struck by the last bullet you wrote- find safe spaces where my words do matter. I recently did some journaling about why I write . . . the theme of . . . it's okay for me to take up space came up. It occurred to me that is one of the big underlying fears for me. I am revising my book with this thread. It's been profound. Thank you for opening this substack!
So important Helen. Writing is so vulnerable. To write our own stories is to learn so much about who were are and what made us into the people we are today. We know the events of our life but we often don't know what we think about the events. It is in the writing that we discover ourselves. That process requires finding safe spaces for sharing and encouragement, and for knowing that you deserve to take up the space. I truly believe that.
This is so helpful. My writers group in Portland at Mechanics Hall Library is having this very conversation just this week! So many are stuck and ready to throw in the towel. A question has been raised "Why do we writer anyway?" Some of the answers align with your points.
It's great to know we are not alone, and this post validates that, like you knew! Thanks for sharing and for giving us space to submit and share our work for the pure value of writing, no judgement.
This conversation is one so many writers I know have. Why write? Writing is a creative act. If it is your art, your means of self expression, it can give so much back to you that has nothing to do with outside validation. I appreciate that. I love watching the transformation in writers as they work through their story. To me, that is magic.
So helpful! Thanks for sharing!
So glad!
This is so powerful, Darcey. I’m printing the list as keeping it in my writers notebook.
Oh, that makes me so happy! So Glad it resonated!
I am struck by the last bullet you wrote- find safe spaces where my words do matter. I recently did some journaling about why I write . . . the theme of . . . it's okay for me to take up space came up. It occurred to me that is one of the big underlying fears for me. I am revising my book with this thread. It's been profound. Thank you for opening this substack!
So important Helen. Writing is so vulnerable. To write our own stories is to learn so much about who were are and what made us into the people we are today. We know the events of our life but we often don't know what we think about the events. It is in the writing that we discover ourselves. That process requires finding safe spaces for sharing and encouragement, and for knowing that you deserve to take up the space. I truly believe that.