YA Highway is beckoning me again:
What's your numero-uno reason for writing?
I'll bet there's some sort of high-minded, acceptable list of answers to this sweet little, seemingly innocuous question. I'll bet there are plenty of creative writing teachers who'd cluck their tongues at the answers we give. But that's why I like YA Highway. No high-falutin' rigid readers who laugh with derision at our perplexing answers. Here's mine:
Numero-Uno: Because I need to write.
That's it. I need to. I feel cranky when I go to long without writing. My bones ache with jealousy when someone tells me all about her week of writing in a French castle (yes, Amy, I'm talking about you). Or that weekend at the Writers' Conference in D.C. or Chicago, or the Writers' Retreat for a blissful week in the woods. I nod and cheer and say, "You go, Girl!" but they can't hear the envy in my bones go "creak!"
Writing or rewriting a page, and then another page, or even merely a paragraph--it's like a drug, folks. Like an anti-depression regimen. Like caffeine. Sometimes it gives me the jitters in a bad sort of way, but most of the time, I leave my writing desk and my heart feels two sizes bigger in a very good--I'm-ready-for-the-world--kind of way.
I think many writers feel this way. It's a bond we share. We nod our heads sympathetically when our fundamental needs aren't being met. Writing-time needs. Thank God my partner understands this.
