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Why I Write

And why you should, too!

By Dave RowlandsPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
2
Why I Write
Photo by Kiwihug on Unsplash

I've said often enough that if I didn't write, my brain would explode from the words backing up inside of it. Obviously, this is not true in a literal sense, though the characters and situations writing around behind my eyes would argue. They feel cramped somehow, some of the time. If I didn't write some of their stories out it could indeed result in serious complications... if nothing else, I would have a horde of people inside my mind clamouring for attention and for me to tell their stories.

Fiction has always been a part of my existence, when in trouble as a child and told to go to my room I would simply think "Alright! Reading time!" and grab something from my bookshelf until bedtime. Then out would come the torch (flashlight for people in the US) and I would continue under the covers, reading about the travels of various Hobbits or Wizards... in short order I knew what I wanted to do when I grew up; I wanted to write stories. I wanted to make people feel the things that I felt while reading.

Now that I have reached the ripe old age of 42 without having remotely grown up yet, I figured that I may as well write anyway and to Hell with what anybody else thinks. You see, I’ve heard all of it before, don’t write you won’t get anywhere, don’t bother with creative endeavours you won’t make any money. Most importantly, don’t bother writing, you aren’t good enough and never will be. To this attitude, I say, “Bullshit!” in a hearty manner. “Bullshit, and thrice more bullshit!” I say this to myself, to those people that told me such things in my past, and to you dear Reader. You are perhaps the most important recipient of this message, especially if you’re remotely creatively inclined.

So many young creative people listen to these voices, whether from external or internal sources. The best method that I have encountered to disrupt such noise is to simply do it. Write, create something. It doesn’t need to be a masterpiece, indeed far better if it is not! Nobody will ever be satisfied with their second work if their first is perfect… and that is the other point, don’t go for perfection. You’ll forever be editing. Write, ignore the voices from others and yourself. Create, because it is within you, and it is crying to come out.

Other people will always have opinions, they are based purely on their own perceptions. You can't do the thing that they feel incapable of doing. They project their own inadequacies upon other people that are doing something ... different. How dare you be different, you Heathen?

However, where would we be without creative people ignoring those that would hold them back? Would Dracula exist if Bram Stoker had listened to his mates down the pub, who told him that the idea of an immortal bloodsucking noble from Eastern Europe with a mild allergy to garlic and sunlight coming to London was a silly idea? Would The Bible have even been written? Or would some ancient scholar, discouraged by jibes from his fellows, decide to not chronicle the possibly exaggerated exploits of this Jesus fellow from Nazareth?

Never stifle your own creativity, nor anybody else's. There is enough scope in both opinion and taste for everybody to be satisfied. Do Your Thing, write the book that's been burning inside you, create the film that you see within your mind every time you blink. Record the music that makes your soul soar when the rest of the world is silent. It is inside you for that very reason; for you to use it either for your own purposes or to entertain others. Only if it is ignored will it be a problem for you.

Let it out!

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About the Creator

Dave Rowlands

Author and Creator of Anno Zombus, but don't let that worry you; I write more than just zombie stories.

Discover more about Baby's parents role during the Auspocalypse at amazon.com and come and join us at the Anno Zombus facebook group.

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