I Write Because…

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox.

January 29, 2016 prompt:  “Write On:  Why do you write? What have you learned by facing the page? Did anything surprise you about your reflections this past month?”

I Write Because…

I write because I love to read.  As a child, Mama instilled a love for the written word in me and my Sister. Our tastes in reading material is worlds apart’ however, we love to read. As  a child people always complimented us on our vocabulary and we routinely tested at higher reading levels and comprehensive skills. I never saw Mama more angry than when a fourth grade teacher put me in a lower than average reading group because I didn’t pass a spelling test. The teacher incorrectly said, “You will never be a good reader because you aren’t a good speller. “  Mama told her to put me in the highest level reading group. I proceeded to blow the teacher out of the water. The following year we were in a read at your own pace reading program. I read everything and was introduced to the most wonderful room in the school. The Library.  By the way, my vocabulary and reading comprehension tested out at the mid-college level even in Junior High.

I write because it’s an easier form of creation and communication for me. It helps me to clarify my thoughts and focus. I like the order and sense of writing. Especially with the advent of the computer. In college and High School I struggled with writing papers. The content was always great. The form was not. Since most journals require APA style, we were always given the choice. When I discovered APA style I threw away the MLS manual and never looked back. During my oral exit exam from my Master’s program one of my instructors on the panel said, “We noticed about half way through the program your papers changed—the content has always been great, but the form is where you were marked off. What do you attribute that change to?” Without a heartbeat I told them. I finally had access to a computer. Before that time, I had manually typed on a type writer. Every time I found a typo or a misspelled word, or realized the flow was off, I had to retype the page.  After retyping the page 17 times, I stopped caring and turned the papers in w/typos.  To this day my favorite computer aides are: spell check and cut and paste.

I write because my friends encourage me.  I love to hear their praise about a funny story, or that they have passed my words of “wisdom” on to their kids or friends. It doesn't get any better than that for me, but even if no one ever read anything I wrote, I would still write because....

I write because it makes me happy.