The reasons why I write change with what I write. Sometimes I write because I need to for an assignment or a favor, sometimes I write to keep track of my thoughts (like Joan Didion) and sometimes I write just because I have something to say. When I write for myself I find comfort in what I'm doing. As I have stated before, I enjoy keeping a journal. One reason I write is to keep a record of my life. In twenty or fifty years from now I can read the journal that I'm keeping now and remember my experiences as a college freshman. Even when I die there will be a physical record of the happenings of my life.
Sometimes, if I come across an idea or issue that really moves me; I'll write an essay about it. Saved on my computer right now I have one essay on beauty and one on the apathy of my generation. I'll send my essays to a certain friend or my sister but other then that I tend to keep them to myself. Although most of the things I write will never reach an audience it doesn't matter. Whether it's a record of my life, an idea that I wanted to put on paper or the release of frustration, I write for myself.
It's difficult to extricate writing from audience - even if the audience is just you.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about the "apathy of your generation" - because that was said that about my generation as well. Do you think it's getting worse? Perhaps the primary function of each generation to irk the living crap out of the generation immediately proceeding it?