It’s the first Wednesday of the month again and this means it’s time for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (#IWSG) to meet. I did pretty well in the writing department over the past month, although not as well as I’d hoped. I mean, I didn’t write a blog post for #Blogtober20, or at all for that matter, everyday. Particularly towards the end of the month, I was less and less motivated to write. Let’s hope for a good writing month for November then.
This month’s optional question is why you write what you write. Albert Camus is quoted as saying that the purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself. Such a fitting quote on the day after the fiasco that is U.S. election day. I don’t usually share my political views on here, but let me be very clear that I don’t support Trump. Now I must say that Biden is pretty far from my ideal president too, but at least he isn’t as much of an idiot as Trump. But I digress.
Flannery O’Conner, an author I’ve never heard of, is quoted as saying: “I write to discover what I know.” This resonates more with me than Camus’s reason. I mean, like I said, I don’t share my political views on here much. In case Camus means that the written word is everlasting, I doubt mine is. Though I’ve been able to conserve most of my writings from the early days of my online journal and before, I’m not sure they’ll last forever or even close to it. The Internet evolves faster than we know, after all. WordPress may not be here for the rest of my life, or even the rest of this decade. With its stupid decision to enforce the block editor, who knows how long it will be able to survive?
I can, in a way, relate to O’Conner’s idea of writing for discovery. Or self-discovery, in my case.
However, I don’t just write for myself. In fact, I cannot keep myself from writing with an audience in mind, even when I write in my own private diary. It’s been this way even years before I knew about the Internet. In a sense, I write to discover what I know, but also to share what I know. Maybe that’s a bit snobbish, but oh well.
Every time you write, you tell people that it is possible. That’s an enormous thing.
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Oh wow, I hadn’t thought of it that way! Thanks!
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I’ve visited Flannery O’Connor’s childhood home in Savannah, Georgia. And recommend it, if ever get the chance. Having an audience in mind when writing is necessary too, to the writing process, I think!
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Oh that’s so cool! Thanks for offering your perspective.
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Writing calms the soul sometimes!
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Yes, it certainly does! 🙂
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I love IWSG Day, because it helps us to understand our motivations and process, which is always a good thing. Lots of luck for your November writing! 🙂
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Thank you so much for stopping by and offering your perspective.
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I wonder if your inner views are deeper than you realize. 😉
https://www.yallwrite.org/schedule
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Thank you for saying that.
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Writing to discover and share is a good thing.
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I’m glad you think so. Thanks so much!
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I am glad you had a good writing month in october, even if you dont write every day, your writing on most days. xoxo
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Thank you. That’s so true indeed.
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