February 5, 2006
Why I Write what I Write
In response to a question posed on the NMJ blog, I strongly disagree with some of Orwell's generalizations of writers.
"...Sheer egoism. [Writers] Desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered after death, to get your own back on grownups who snubbed you in childhood, etc., etc."
Perhaps I missed what type of writer he was talking about, or whether they were professional or not. I am a writer not to be popular. If you are a writer to be popular and famous, you picked the wrong job. There are so many writers that are not widely known (especially journalists). Writing is not the quick and easy way to get fame--even if you are talented. I write to get people talking about issues. I write to make people think critically, constructively. I write to propogate a passion for discourse. I write to make people think differently, from a unique frame of reference.
Perhaps I'm being idealistic. I'll leave that for you to decide. But true writing is so much more than egoistic, and self-centered agendas. Writing is about sharing views, not about propogating perceived truth. Writing does not end at the end of the last page, there it only begins. Writing is hard and doesn't pay with much apart from the joy of writing in itself... But that's enough. You can't change the world with one book, play, poem or story, but you can make a difference with it.
Orwell failed to highlight the ideals of writing. While perhaps not many writers feel the same way I do about writing, they have the capacity to feel this way. If we want to be famous in writing, we write what people want to hear. If we write what they want to hear, nothing gets accomplished. Thus, egoism is more of a threat to writing than an appropriate feature. Although egoism is a prominent feature of some bloggers and "facebookers," but we won't go there.
Posted by EvanReynolds at February 5, 2006 7:48 PM
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