Joan Didion writes a simple four-page essay on why she writes. She stole it, just as I plan to do here, now.
Writing, drawing, painting, and making music, it's all about learning to steal. How to collect, store and reproduce in a way that makes sense to you. Adding to the past is the best way to move forward.
I write sometimes just to record what I see; I make lists of colors, objects, the weather, and the changing of the seasons even though it's the same every year. I'm an observer, it's hard to write without observing, without reading. I also like to read. The other day I had a conversation with one of my friends and she told me that she doesn't like to read anymore. I asked her why. She told me that reading used to be easy when she had the time to get lost. I am not good with directions, and I don't want to be. I like to get lost. Sometimes I plan out a whole day to myself where I can do whatever I want, get lost, and not think about everything I have to think about. Usually, it doesn't work. The older that I get the harder it is. The more that I collect the harder it is to organize it all, store it in a way that makes sense. That's why I write.
I write to understand. Not to understand all this deep shit about the meaning of life; other writers can do that. I write to understand the little things, I write to organize the things that make me feel present, something happy, something sad. Simplistic, something understandable. Something I can describe in a simple sentence. No complex diction shit, no weird punctuation and grammar rules (as fun as that is). No need for the big words. Breaking down life and making it into little bite-sized portions I can fold up and put in my pocket.
Joan Didion writes, and I read what she wrote. She helped me write, understand why I write even though we write for different reasons, in different ways. Writers like her allow me to get lost now and then, and keep me writing, organizing, storing, and understanding.
Writing, drawing, painting, and making music, it's all about learning to steal. How to collect, store and reproduce in a way that makes sense to you. Adding to the past is the best way to move forward.
I write sometimes just to record what I see; I make lists of colors, objects, the weather, and the changing of the seasons even though it's the same every year. I'm an observer, it's hard to write without observing, without reading. I also like to read. The other day I had a conversation with one of my friends and she told me that she doesn't like to read anymore. I asked her why. She told me that reading used to be easy when she had the time to get lost. I am not good with directions, and I don't want to be. I like to get lost. Sometimes I plan out a whole day to myself where I can do whatever I want, get lost, and not think about everything I have to think about. Usually, it doesn't work. The older that I get the harder it is. The more that I collect the harder it is to organize it all, store it in a way that makes sense. That's why I write.
I write to understand. Not to understand all this deep shit about the meaning of life; other writers can do that. I write to understand the little things, I write to organize the things that make me feel present, something happy, something sad. Simplistic, something understandable. Something I can describe in a simple sentence. No complex diction shit, no weird punctuation and grammar rules (as fun as that is). No need for the big words. Breaking down life and making it into little bite-sized portions I can fold up and put in my pocket.
Joan Didion writes, and I read what she wrote. She helped me write, understand why I write even though we write for different reasons, in different ways. Writers like her allow me to get lost now and then, and keep me writing, organizing, storing, and understanding.
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