Writer’s have a problem.  Actually, it’s more like a paradox, because the solution to the problem also causes the problem to spring up again.  Writing for writers isn’t some hobby.  They don’t write because it is fun, or because they feel that it is a good use of their time.  Most writers I know sort of hate writing, and we don’t ask forgiveness for saying that.  A typical conversation with a writer is that, hey, I actually wrote this morning.  And we say, nice work. Because writing is emotionally and mentally draining.  It is also socially draining, which is the reason for this post today.

A writer writes because a writer is compelled to write.  The better the writer, the stronger the compulsion.  However, writing causes the writer to be exposed in a very unique way.  We write.  People read our writing and then they judge us based off our writing.  If someone has a conflict with our writing, we are forced to write about it to expunge the demons that the conflict creates inside of us. We feel bad, so we write.  But what we write sometimes makes people mad at us. So we get upset, and we feel bad, so we write. But what we write sometimes makes people mad at us. So we get upset, and we feel bad, so we write.

I’m not certain, but this is probably why so many writers commit suicide.

No, I’m not going to commit suicide.  This isn’t that.  Let’s me start over.

Originally, this blog post was going to be about Gay marriage, how I support it and why I support it.  This blog post was going to use my life experiences, especially recently, to convey the idea that Gay marriage is not only just fine, but it is also inevitable and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it.  This was going to be that blog post.

However, by writing the blog post, I would probably get some people upset with me.  These are people that I care about, but that disagree with my perspectives on the world.  I respect these people, and by writing a post about something they disagree with, it would cause a conversation about the disagreement.  This conversation would probably make me upset, which would create another blog post.  Which would make them upset, which would make me upset, which would cause another blog post.  You see it, don’t you?  It’s a nice and neat circle.

Sure, I probably have something unique to say about it Gay Marriage. No one sees the world how I see the world.  We all have a unique perspective, and we should share it. But does it justify the annoying and obvious churning mass of heated discussion?  So, instead of writing about Gay marriage, I wanted to share with you the mind of the writer, only slightly.  People that don’t write have no idea that there is so much that people that do write don’t write, because writing makes you tired, leaves you empty, and leaves you exposed.  The best writers write anyway, regardless of this exposure.  They are also broken people.  Meet a great writer and you’re also meeting someone with the social skills of a grizzly bear.  Meet a brilliant writer and you are meeting someone truly insane.

People who don’t write are allowed to live their lives and never reveal to the world what they think or how they feel.  Writer’s don’t have that luxury.  God, that must be nice.  How does it feel never having to expose yourself to the world?  To never be judged?  To never be criticized? That must feel amazing.

But, hey, this isn’t about me not writing, either.  This post is about something else, the revelation of the clock workings of a mind that never stops thinking about himself and his relation to the universe.  That’s what all writers do.  We write, not because we love words or because there is injustice in the world that we want to solve.  We write for those reasons, too.  But, at the core, we write because we have to write.  We don’t have a choice. I’ve never met another writer has has ever uttered the words, “I’m going to stop writing.” If someone does stop writing, they were never a writer in the first place.

Writers are upset, constantly, and writing heals that wound.  But when you write, you make other people upset, which makes you upset, so you write.  But when you write, you make other people upset, which makes you upset, so you write.

Half the time, I just turn on the television and watch episodes of “24” back to back.  It’s way easier.

30 Jun This entry was published on June 30, 2011 at 2:47 pm and is filed under The Rhetorical Situation. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.