Teachers Share #WhyIWrite

To read or to write that is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of others’ words or our own. At this point, I think it’s safe to say that teachers should be readers, but what about writers? The written word is a part of every day life. At its most basic, writing is a way of communicating. This is the defining characteristic of writing itself, whether you’re communicating with your class or a friend or even when you’re communicating with yourself–through your blog, for instance. October 20 is National Day on Writing and we want to know what you say about: “Why I write.”

We wondered why you write, so we asked and what we got back was a kind of poetry:

We write to explore ourselves

“Language isn’t confined; it can be reinvented, transportive and phantasmagoric. I write because it allows me to transcend what I might ordinarily be able to say, to remember, to explore my own heart and feelings and insights and do some world-theorizing. To spark an internal and external and eternal monologue. To understand or to make sense of what didn’t make sense or can only through that way of dispensing thought. And to celebrate life and existence.” —Anna Marie

“I write to release what I feel inside to feel what is weighing me down feel a little lighter. Writing to me is my way of outward expression whether I keep it to myself or share it with others. It is the one place where I feel completely free to be able to express every part of me.” —Amber

“I write; therefore, I am. When I don’t write, things remained trapped inside––making me doubt myself. When I write, it is like releasing white doves at a wedding : a sign of hope that I am growing. Writing makes us unique on the planet ?  We can rule with words, so use them precisely and carefully. They do carry powerful abilities.”—J.J.

“I write because my heart has so much to say.”—Kristi

We write to process the world

“I write because I have to. It helps me process the world and make sense of things that don’t make sense.”—Daisy

“I write to reflect. I write to untangle my life. I write to express. I write because I MUST.” —Michelle

We write because we love words

“I love the flow of thoughts into words.” —Julia

We write because we are alive

“To stop writing would equal to stop breathing.” —Katrin

“To honor the ideas. They are parts of me and my experience of the world.” —Katy

To stay sane. —Vesna