What Compels Us to Write

Answering The Call

I have always been drawn to the written word. Like most writers, I am a voracious consumer of books.

I read for information on most days because my day job demands it. My most content state is whenever I have a book in my hand. The pleasure that I get from soaking into a beautifully told story is immense.

Probably also like most writers, I have always felt a calling to join the guild. Growing up where I did, the title of ‘Writer’ failed to make the list of viable ways of making a living.

In my late teens, I was introduced to the world of black fiction writers. I revelled in the worlds created by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Ayi Kwei Armah and Chinua Achebe.

It took until my early twenties to discover the works of black, female writers. For reasons not limited to an under-representation of minority works in the publishing world and less-developed supply chains in developing countries, I was late to the party.

But, what a stroke of luck!

Being late to the party meant that I had loads of catching up to do. I devoured as many books as I could as quickly as I could — and I haven’t stopped since.

Half of A Yellow Sun

Girl, Woman, Other

How Long Til Black Future Month

The Colour Purple

The Bluest Eye

Parable of The Sower

…the list is wonderfully endless!

After several years of putting it off, I have recently decided to just write. The reasons I have always given myself to defer writing — getting a good job, starting a family, growing a business — just one day sounded like a list of unjustifiable excuses.

I write because I feel a compulsion to get my thoughts out. The retelling of these abstractions outside of my head lends a sort of solidity to them — that in turn generates a validity of experience.

Finally writing to me feels like answering a relentlessly persistent lifelong calling. Each time I respond to it another piece fits itself into a tapestry of my life that is still being woven.

In exploring my own compulsions I have also tried to answer the question of, What other reasons compel writers to the craft?

Here are a couple that I have found:

• Being a natural storyteller — Some of the best writers I have encountered ply their craft with such virtuosity that their innate talent for story-telling is unmistakable.
• Having wisdom & knowledge to Impart — There are those who write out of a need to share acquired knowledge.
• A need to be heard — For those who feel silenced, writing can be a means to get your voice heard. Think Anne Frank.
• A desire to document history — History has been most effectively passed down where it has been documented. Historians are some of the world’s most important writers.
• A way of connecting — Interestingly, social media has produced writers of lots of people who are looking to make a connection with like-minded others.
• Making sense of life — This one is quite important. If you ever kept a diary as a teenager, you know the deep searching and questioning that drips through every page. A lot of poetry comes from this place of searching for meaning.
• Catharsis — Writing for is a form of catharsis. It certainly is for me.

As a writer, you need to stay connected to what motivates and inspires your craft.

But watch out, there are common pitfalls. They would seem urgent concerns but in the long run, will only cripple your muse and stifle your genius.

Money will always be a sidetrack away from pursuing your calling. Writers cannot survive without an income.

But you must find a way to make a living that leaves you room to keep writing. Unfortunately, the only thing that creates writing success is writing success.

Renown & Fame are potential downsides for writers who get a taste of initial success. Often, chasing that first high of accolades can lead down a path of trying to please every critic or fan — and a sure path to failure.

Write what you know and write what inspires you. Let those who need to hear your voice find it clear and ringing true.

‘Fear may be an effective motivator, but it’s a terrible master.’ — Chris Hogan. Some times you have to write from a place of trepidation to make a deadline or meet an external demand of you. Beware of remaining in this space for too long a period.

If you recognise yourself in any of the above then that’s excellent. Stay the course and keep writing. The world needs you to – even if it finds a hard time acknowledging this need.

And if not, then I’ll be curious to know: why do you write?