Why I Write

Writing is a lot like treasure hunting. It takes a long time, but it’s worth the effort in the long run. I have spent hours searching for the perfect combination of words and letters, digging deep into the furthest reaches of my literary knowledge, until I have emerged triumphant from the depths with a sentence that rolls off the tongue with ease, a feeling as precious as riches.

These riches are something very few appreciate or understand. Like petals on a flower, each letter, word, and sentence accents the other, creating a rainbow of highlighted colors; each layer piles on top of the other until you are left with a multi-colored blossom of thoughts, waiting to be picked and harvested. Like jewels strung into a necklace, the words I have chained together finally gleam in the light of their accomplishment and I exhibit their sentences with confidence.

However, this confidence tends to come into question when fighting off pirates. Bandits often sail the high seas, looking to steal my discovery and take away my feeling of victory. Oftentimes, after I have completed a piece, I read back over my work and am disappointed that the effort I have put in hasn’t had the desired effect. The scoundrels in my head attempt to steal my success, try to make me feel worthless and disappointing, but I fight words with words and don’t stop until each line has tapped undiscovered beauty.

Part of why writing is so beautiful is that it’s purely and truly you. When the treasure chest is opened, people find themselves amidst the riches and discover their own worth. Writing makes people vulnerable. It makes people tough. Writing gives people the opportunity to discover who they are and what makes them special. It provides an outlet in which the ordinary can become extraordinary.

After years of writing, this is the question I find myself constantly asking: What are you going to do with this treasure?

And this is why I write.

Yes, I write to feel victorious. Yes, I write to experience beauty. And yes, I write to discover who I am. But most importantly, I write to change.

I write so that when my story is done, I can leave people wondering about my message. I write so that people can understand hardship, understand struggle, and understand how to overcome. I write so that people feel emotion. I write so that humans can understand morality. I write so that this world can be a better place.

I write so that I can make a difference.

As a young, and self-conscious adventurer, I have only just begun exploring the power writing has on myself and others. And I am very afraid to share.

But one thing I know for sure.

Although words still scare me, writing has become a part of who I am and I am learning to display this part of me with pride. My hope is that in the future I can exhibit enough confidence to show this side of me that I love. That I can be confident enough to share my writing and make an impact.

She’d thought that her words were all worthless,

But the paper left nowhere to hide.

And she finally noticed the beauty,

She’d always kept bottled inside.

-e.h.