“Why I Write” Essay
The question “why I write” is one that has produced a multitude of different answers throughout my life. As a younger child, my type A personality became apparent rather quickly, as I would love making lists and documenting new information that I had learned. To this day, I still enjoy reading back through my dozens of google documents with stories that my childhood self wrote in its raw youthful nature. Even as I see the red and blue underlines that signal “writing errors,” I resist the urge to edit these google documents so that I can appreciate what I did at the time and remember why I was writing. At that time, I wrote just to be creative and have something tangible to look back on and be proud of, even as I know cringe at my past grammar errors and run on sentences.
English was also consistently my favorite subject in school before high school. I loved getting to write open ended narratives and read books with the intention of getting to listen to my classmates’ interpretations. As I progressed through school, my teachers could always pick my essay out from a pile for the single distinction of being excessively detailed and lengthy. I saw it as a compliment at the time, because that was my style of writing. I did not see writing as work, but rather something that I got to do. When I was assigned to write a five page narrative in my 8th grade english class, I wrote eighteen pages. This was not because I had a compulsive need to overachieve, but I instead just wrote until I felt my story was complete. I was lucky enough to have a teacher at the time that encouraged my expression, despite her having to grade all eighteen pages of my work. I was so passionate about writing that as a child that I wrote three (unpublished) children’s novels and one historical fiction novel, and proclaimed that I would be a writer when I grew up.
When I reached high school, the only time that I had to write was in my english class as a result of my busy schedule. At that point, sadly, the reason I wrote was really just to produce work that would get me the best grade on assignments. This was also the year when english became my least favorite subject. I had initially loved the course itself for its open endedness, but in high school, I grew confused at how everything seemed so objective to where the teacher decided which writing was right and wrong. I was given more restrictions for assignments that limited my ability to write freely. As I wrote essays in high school, I was more concerned if I included enough semicolons or met the page requirements than if I was writing what I truly thought. I was no longer reading books for the pleasure of learning, but rather for the purpose of trying to annotate and memorize details that could be on a possible quiz. I would like to disclaim that although these aspects of the course drew me away from the subject, I understand why my teachers had to assign grades and validate that the students were actively engaged, and I value the lessons on improving technicality of writing. However, throughout high school, I admit that I would always sacrifice my actual thoughts for the sake of writing what I thought would get me the best grade.
This is part of the reason why I am looking forward to this class. I am far more passionate about my writing when I can write meaningfully to me. I currently keep a journal and have been using that as an outlet to get my thoughts down, and it doesn’t feel like a chore in any way. I don’t have to make drafts or edit or hold back; I write because it takes some of the stress of my life away when I can unapologetically write for me alone. It is possibly the only place where I can write without worrying if my point comes across correctly or if I do not have the correct sentence structure, and I value that.
When I think of writing, the first example that comes to mind is the writing that I do in school, because that is where I spend the majority of my time writing. However, there are many undervalued instances of writing that often go unnoticed. I write emails, texts, letters, and to-do lists quite often. The common reason “why I write” with all of these examples is that writing allows me to get my thoughts across, whether that be a thought directed to communicate with another person or a way for me to personally remember my ideas. For me, writing continues to be my most used and most valued method of expression. So many of my thoughts would be lost or forgotten if I were not able to write. I am able to organize and let go of my thoughts when I write, and I find comfort in knowing that what I write will last after I am gone. I will never be able to meet my ten year old self, but I can read what she wrote and reflect on myself to see that I am still growing. Writing is a tool that is too often taken for granted, and the extent of its influence is immeasurable.
#WhyIWrite
