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Saturday, May 18, 2013

Writing for the Sake of Writing

Typha plants at the edge of a small wetland in...
Typha plants at the edge of a small wetland in Indiana. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I did not always think in words and learning to do so both limited and expanded my world. Learning to think in words tied down my thinking. It grounded my thoughts, made them less subjective. When I thought in terms of emotions and colors, my perception of “that chair” was much more fluid. Now “that chair” is a stable idea. I lost some things when I was taught to think in words, but I became able to communicate much more easily. Just as people think for the sake of thinking, some writers carve out time to write for the sake of writing.
There is something about writing that opens up space in my mind for more thoughts. I am the sort of person who thinks about thinking – which requires a certain amount of space. But I am also prone to depressions that close that space. I find I have trouble writing during these times because I don't have the space in my head. So even when I can't write productively, I write for the sake of writing. And I find that if I write long enough – 15 minutes or 6 hours – I can usually open enough space that I can write productively for a little bit.
The manias are a different story. Then I want nothing else as much as I want to write – for a while. But what I write does not always make sense when I go back to it. So, again, I write for the sake of writing. I write for the need of words, little words that both constrain and open reality.
Writing for the sake of writing also makes me more articulate when I speak because I am practicing communication, even though I rarely share what I write during these times. To write whatever comes to mind is to reflect, to connect with myself, and to connect with the moment. It is a timeless space with only my thoughts, my keyboard, and me. But I feel better for it. So it is also a form of therapy.
Is writing for the sake of writing still a form of communication? I mean, I don't usually share it with anyone. But maybe it is a way of communicating with the self. Thoughts come and go, but write those thoughts down, and they become more real and permanent. They gain weight. It becomes easier to reflect on them, question them, follow them to the next thoughts.
These thoughts are noting profound, just an instance of writing for the sake of writing.

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