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Why do you write?
What stories do you need to tell?
“I just knew there were stories I wanted to tell.” — Octavia E. Butler
I am a late bloomer and writing is no exception. I started writing in my forties and haven’t stopped since. I never once thought I was too old, too late, too anything that would hold me back. In fact, I think churning out my stories later in life has only proven to give them more clarity — distance. This space allows me to put my words onto the page. The one hindrance, the one thing that continues to hold me back is why am I writing?
Why am I writing?
“Why does one begin to write? Because she feels misunderstood, I guess. Because it never comes out clearly enough when she tries to speak. Because she wants to rephrase the world, to take it in and give it back again differently, so that everything is used and nothing is lost. Because it’s something to do to pass the time until she is old enough to experience the things she writes about.” — Nicole Krauss
For me, this time of reflection has allowed me to rectify my past. It allows me to make sense of it and deconstruct it and then only then can I make sense of it all. Writing is a catharsis and it is only through this process that I can understand the past and hopefully let it go.
“That’s why I write, because life never works except in…
