Waaaaaay back on October 1st, I attempted to explain Why I Write. It was a worthy attempt but I heard something over the weekend that I need to add on to it.
I was watching a documentary over the weekend about my favorite band, The Slackers, when Vic Ruggeiro, the keyboard player and soul of the band, said something that really resonated with me. He said that his father always asked him why he worked his ass off playing a kind of music that not a lot of people listened to. He said that ska made his life so much more beautiful and made his life worth living during the darkest times that he felt like he had to try to give something back.
The notion of giving something back really hit home for me. Who among us hasn't taken solace in a favorite book when life kicks you in the testicles (or ovaries, as the case may be)? Who hasn't pondered a throwaway idea in a sci-fi or fantasy novel for a lot longer than the author intended? Who hasn't had a line of dialogue floating around in their head for weeks or months after reading a book?
That's another reason why I write, to try to give back some of what books have given me. I want to shelter people from the storm. I want to keep people thinking long after the reading is done. I want one of my lines of dialogue working its way into people's everyday life.
That's all I have to say about that. For now, anyway.
I totally agree! I want something that I wrote to stick in a reader's mind and have them thinking about it. So very true for many writers.
ReplyDelete