18 Comments on Must you write?

Fran on Mar 13, 2010 at 12:40pm



I often wonder whether I could quit writing and just carry on without it. But it permeates so much of life – my teaching, my blogging, writing silly poems for friends … even without the serious writing of novels or poetry. So I think it’s taken a hold!

ricky martin on Mar 14, 2010 at 17:51pm



To change a quote .to write to live ,to live to write there for I am

clarke on Mar 22, 2010 at 12:42pm



I think that this is a bit of a silly question. If you must write, then you do and if not, then why waste your time?

okeyo on Mar 23, 2010 at 05:46am



I must write, certainly that is not to be questioned, at dawn am with a pencil in hand and notebook, at dusk same thing-and i write till i write!

reissellesse on Apr 2, 2010 at 09:34am



Do I need to write? Yes! But don’t ask me why or how this unrelenting desire ever started to take over my entire daily thoughts. Sometimes I listen to people in regular jobs complaining about their “Groundhog Day” routine and look to the sky and think to myself how lucky I am. Sometimes I absolutely grind to a writing block and wonder why I cant get one of these regular jobs and maybe the need to succeed as a writer would disappear and life would be simpler. But I NEVER wish that this little talent I have been given and the compulsion to succeed that it delivers would ever evaporate and leave a massive void of uncertainty in my one and only existence.

Fi Phillips on Apr 14, 2010 at 10:46am



This is a question I’ve never asked myself because the answer is already obvious to me. As a writer, I must write. To keep myself focused on any level of reality, I must act on the ideas and characters that call to me.

dann on Apr 17, 2010 at 15:17pm



you must write till writers block stops you. it is like a traffic officer, you see.

Xean Puccio on Apr 20, 2010 at 14:50pm



Writers don’t have to write for need. Sometimes it is just their choice. They could be doing other things as well and still be writing. Life is vast. We should accomplish as much as we can.

DavidBlack on May 8, 2010 at 13:31pm



I’ve never even asked that question. Even when the vastness of my first novel, which was trimmed down to 14 potential ones confronted me.

Mariam on May 20, 2010 at 23:19pm



since it’s a gift we should use it ,because god never gave any one any thing for no reason ,so pray for me to become a good writer

I ‘m looking for a break now

sica on May 21, 2010 at 12:43pm



I asked myself that question and the answer I get is ‘yes’.
When I think of my future I cannot see how I exist if I’m not writing.
That may not make sense to some people, but what I meant is; if you try to think of something that your mind cannot comprehend then it draws a blank and when I try to think of a future; my future, where I’m not writing, well it’s incomprehensible to me!

Shankut on May 23, 2010 at 07:36am



Must I write?

In my teenage life I used to read adventure books and relieved the fantasy world in dreams. Some were the adventures that I had read and relived in the dreams, but quite few were from my unknown area of the brain which had its own factory that manufactured some remarkable adventures.

Next morning I used to reminisce these dreams, either by putting them on paper or think, talk to friends. So since tender age I developed the skill for putting dreams on papers and since then writing has become a second nature of communication and has not relinquish since. The question: ‘Must I write?’ Never crossed my mind.

Flugel Meister on May 24, 2010 at 07:43am



I agree, Shankut. For me and many of us here, I feel the following is more appropriate:

“I Must Write.’

DavidWard on May 24, 2010 at 23:39pm



If you know you must write then surely the next question; is what form your writing is best suited to? Some forms (novels, biographies memoirs, etc) require large chunks of discipline, while others (poetry, short prose) allow the occasional burst of creativity to be sufficient. So: when ‘must I write’ is answered yes then perhaps ‘what must I write?’ is the logical successor.

Shankut Somaiya on May 25, 2010 at 21:35pm



I agree Flugel Meister with most of us ‘I Must Write’ is natural progression to ‘What Must I Write’.

Yes DavidWard that would be the next step. The form of writing depends on many elements. I think mostly the ability to conform to a habit that corset discipline. Cosmos mind that has orderly system. A complacent ability to compile ideas which then well adopted to conduit into whatever forms (novels etc.)

chuffmonkey on May 26, 2010 at 19:11pm



Writing to me is like a sickness or disease, and often i’ll kid myself that one day, some scientists somewhere will create a medication, which will allow me to pop a pill and be cured… but that’s not ever going to happen, so i’m stuck as a writer.

Why? probably because i have aspergers and can’t stop myself from thinking and questioning, which creates a spark, a very basic initial spark, from which it all grows, and until such point as it becomes complete, it haunts me, so i am pushed onwards.

The worst part about being a feature screenplay writer in the uk is not knowing who all the effort is for… without a shadow of doubt, that is the main problem here.

I don’t have the ability to write books, as books take a lot of discriptive content… in a screenplay, a room is a room, a bar is a bar and so on, yet with books, you have to describe the room… are the windows clean or dirty, is the wall paper nice, or old and pealing off the walls, is the carpet plush or threadbare?

With a screenplay it’s a location, so having created the location, you then focus on dialogue, and so the story goes.

In the event that any of you can answer yes to the question at hand, you’re probably bored, or retired, and seeking something to pass the time of day… however, if like me the answer is a no……..

KEEP PRAYING FOR THAT MEDICATION BROTHER!

chuffmonkey on May 26, 2010 at 19:16pm



To add…….

When you have the writers affliction, you’ll never start something, finish it, and move on, as its a constant vicious circle.

When the spark ignites, you do what you can, and plot or map things out, though you can only go so far, as writers block will hit you.

It’s at that point that you put your work to one side and pick up something else, until that gives you writers block.

Sooner or later, you run out of material, and end up back at the spark work, to which you’ll read through it… see clearly where you went wrong, and start writing again, until the block kicks in.

It’s a never ending circle, as so long as you have breath in your body, you live, and if you live, you question, and if you quetsion, you find sparks.

Admin on May 26, 2010 at 21:09pm



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