For Whom Do You Write?

When I began writing, I wrote mainly for myself in a black and white speckled composition notebook. I wrote to cope with being a lonely, depressed teenager.

While an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, I risked sharing my writing as my probationary presentation to the Thomas Jefferson Literary and Debate Society. I made people cry. And, I won a sterling Jefferson cup for the best showing of that semester.

It changed me as a writer.

I became focused on response. I honed my craft to provoke more than to express. Compelling but unauthentic. I still hid behind words and images.

Eventually, life dealt me some serious blows like becoming mentally disabled, unemployable, alone not just lonely, and impoverished.

I became a member of the groups to which no one listened. I’ve pan-handled. I’ve tried to escape mental wards by calling 911. I’ve been a nobody.

Pushed to the margins despite any fragments of previous eloquence, I became angry and a writer again.

I wrote to manage my frustration, anxiety, paranoia, stress, and depression.

And, in writing especially blogging, I found others who suffered. And, we became a community. A group of literary outliers. Friends.

Now, I write to and for them.

For us.

I write for one person at a time… hoping s/he will see my writing rainbow through their personal storm and soon recognize themselves as the gold pot at its end.

I write love notes to troubled strangers who also write and become their distant friends.

I need them.

I love them.

They make the writer I am becoming. In them, I am better.

Determining for whom you write will develop your voice.

It’s not hard finding one person who needs to hear your love message.

Find them. Listen to them. And, write them love.