21 Reasons to Write

The rule of thumb on making or breaking a habit is, theoretically, doing the consistency dance for 21 consecutive days. Embracing that philosophy, I present 21 reasonings to use, one per day, until dancing with the muse becomes habitual.

1. I have something to say.
2. I want to be heard.
3. There’s a (good) novel inside trying to get out. It’s taking its sweet time, but it’s in there…somewhere.
4. I’m seeking the perfect sentence... and hopefully it’s one I write.
5. Because I have fingers, a computer, and knowledge of vital rules like “i before e” and other good stuff, I write.
6. It’s a way to explain myself to myself.
7. Writing is cheaper than therapy – if you ignore the plague of rationalized writing toys (Apple-anything) and creative procrastination detours caused by deadlines.
8. Writing keeps me in at night versus out enjoying tasty, but bad-for-me food and alcohol… ergo, writing must be healthy.
9. I can annually join NaNoWriMo with irrational optimism mixed with blithe ignorance of laws of probability regarding publishable material.
10. It allows me to relive the highs and lows of a life, with an occasional medium-whatever thrown in for good measure.
11. It also allows me to regurgitate stupid things said yesterday… or last week… or this morning.
12. Because there are lots of words in a dictionary and somebody has to be OCD about putting them in order.
13. It’s nutrition for my soul, salve for my ego, and will be more fun than watching TV or playing Solitaire when I retire.
14. If I don’t write, my head will become so filled with thoughts, concepts, dialogue, and intriguing-yet-impossible plot twists it might explode.
15. Without writing, I’d have no way to translate those wonderful story dreams I have, like the one the other night about what's-her-name located… uh, somewhere doing whatchamacalit.
16. We are what we write; which is why I gave up trying to become the next Stephen King.
17. By writing, I leave behind a legacy of thoughts that my boys will someday read and realize, in retrospect, that Dad really was basically nuts.
18. Because if I write often enough, someday I might actually earn the right to write poetry and thus achieve bohemianism.
19. Sometimes the opiate of anticipation to write is enough to serve as contentment, but not for long.
20. Words are better to collect than the dust bunnies of an idle mind.
21. Because if I don’t, I’ll regret it at the end of my days.