Love of the Written Word

I am now employed, dear readers. With university behind me and who knows what ahead, one thing is fairly certain: I have a job. Yep, I got the job I interviewed for on Friday! I am now a care assistant at a home for old people. To everyone who's wished me luck, thank you!

Getting the job made me think of writing. Pleased to bits though I am about this, when I think of what I am, I don't think care assistant. I've never thought tour guide or researcher or any of my other jobs, either. I think I've gone too long thinking writer to think of myself as anything but when the thought slips in.

I've been writing so long, it's second nature now. I was four years old when I started, so that's eighteen years of my life now - too long to separate writing from Sangu. It's what I do.

And why do I love it?

1. Escapism. The same reason I love to read. When I write, I can create my own worlds, my own rules, my own people. Even when my characters are at their most headstrong, and the writing at its most frustrating, it's still mine. It's the place I go when I'm frustrated by something in the real world, because in fiction I can fix it. It's a place where unicorns and fairies exist, and little girls can become archaeologists or troll hunters if they want to.

2. The actual words. I'm a geek. I've always been a geek. I'm the one who tells my friends when they misuse or mispronounce a word. I'm the one who says things that, my oldest friends complain with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment, 'no one actually says in real life!' 

It's because I love the written word. I love how stringing sentences together can sound beautiful. It's not always just about plot or characters for me. It's also about how beautiful words can sound and look.

3. I'm good at it. I don't mean that in a boastful way! You know how at school, some kids take to maths and science really quick, and others take to art? Well, I was the kid who always took to English and to literature. Maths? I'm terrible at it. Science? I just about understand (some) of it. But give me a book or a creative assignment, and I loved them. There's a lot of pleasure to be had at doing something you feel proud of at the end, even if it's not a remotely perfect piece of work.

4. I have to do it. This isn't so much a question of why I love it, as why I do it at all. I simply have to. Whether or not I'm thinking of getting published, whether or not I see a character or story going somewhere, I still write them. When a story pops into my mind, I write it, even if I never finish it. It's like an itch. I have to do it.

I'm surprised I can only think of four reasons right now, but I think I've covered my love of writing pretty well here. Ultimately, I guess it comes down to number four: it's just something I have to do.

Why do you love what you do?