A departure from the regular schedule of two posts a week related to my 1K Challenge, I bring you a fast and dirty essay in response to a prompt from Chuck Wendig over on his blog.

Why do I write?

It’s not a question I think about often, but I do get asked it on occasion. I’ve written about reasons why I write in the past and I have no intention of dredging them up again.

I could give you all the canned answers, and they’d all be true. I write for many reasons.

The one I will focus on, that I feel is central to me as a person, is that I write because I have to write.

There are goblins in my mind, endlessly churning out babbling insanities, amusing anecdotes, lazy puns, character arcs, sex scenes, gunfights, quiet contemplations, thematic elements. There is a storm of crazy up there. The longer I go without writing, the more intense it gets. It is a pressure building, and must be relieved.

Writing is my release valve. It is my reverse addiction.

Do I love writing? Yes. There are times when I’m cranking out the words and every bit of it feels like the thing I was always meant to do. Is it hard? Incredibly. Is it rewarding? Always, if not in monetary terms.

Do I hate writing? Sometimes. Anything that is difficult is sometimes cause for resentfulness. Has it stopped me yet?

Why do I write? If I didn’t I wouldn’t be me.