Why I Write

Did you know that today is 'National Day on Writing'? Yeah, I didn't either, but Twitter teaches me many things these days.

So it is National Day on Writing and in honor of it many people are writing about why they write. Now, I have been sort of collecting stories like that myself and in basically every post on this blog I've sort of been answering that question. But since others are doing it today, and I am a sucker for some peer pressure, I guess I'll hammer out an answer as to why I write:

I write because I love words. I love language. I love storytelling. I love escaping. I write because the page, at some points in my life, has been my closest and dearest friend. I write because I've read too many stories that say they are "about" and "for" me and yet I am nowhere to be found. I write because sometimes I am speechless, because sometimes I forget to speak up or out. I write because my voice still wants to be heard, even when my mouth refuses to open. I write because I believe in happy endings and complicated beginnings and ambiguous middles. I write because human behavior fascinates me and I love all the possibilities we contain. I write because I read. I write because I always write, because my brain just turns everything into a story, into a bit of poetry or an op-ed. I write because I don't know what else to do, because there is nothing else I'd rather do.