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Alijandro
New member Username: alijandro
Post Number: 3 Registered: 04-2004
| Posted on Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - 4:02 am: |
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It's a very general question, but you'd be doing a great service to me and more importantly to yourselves to answer this question: "Why do I write?" It's been a very long time since I have been on this web-site, and I have recently recieved e-mail that incidentally brought me back here. I originally left out of frustration that I would be happy to elaborate later on in this thread, but I'd like to hear your responses (or "read your responses" for the technically anal!) P.S. - I'm aware of some sort of "remodeling", but I'm not sure how I have only three posts! Especially since this is the first post I have written in two years, and last time I'm aware of, i easily had over 200 posts - eehh, oh well.... (Message edited by Alijandro on July 19, 2005) "We are the musicmakers, the dreamers of dreams." -W.W.
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M
Board Administrator Username: mjm
Post Number: 3843 Registered: 11-1998
| Posted on Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - 11:31 am: |
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Thank you for returning to us, Alijandro. And I do hope you will elaborate on the "frustration" that took you away from Wild. I, for one, would like to know more. As for the number of posts, unfortunately Wild experienced a couple of crashes in the time that you were away that cleared everyone's posting level. However, everyone was pretty well zeroed out, so the new posting numbers don't really favor anyone. Everyone's been climbing up since the new numbers were established. I, myself, have been posting on this site since its inception. I know I must have at least 10,000 posts by now, not the 3,000 or so that the system displays. Sorry about the posting numbers, but keep posting and your numbers will climb again. As to why I write, I suppose it is for the emotional satisfaction of it. A sense of accomplishment factors in there as well. Also, it is intellectually stimulating. As far as hobbies go, writing provides a good deal of satisfaction with little or no upfront costs. Paper and pens can always be found or pilfered. *grin* Thanks for returning, Alijandro. I hope you will explain your frustrations so that if there is something we can do to minimize them, we will be given that opportunity. Best, M (Administrator) |
"A-Bear"
Moderator Username: dane
Post Number: 1155 Registered: 11-1998
| Posted on Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - 2:10 pm: |
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Money, power, world recognition, and above all, because it's one of the few things in life I am half-ass good at. *smile* Seriously, there are probably as many reasons to write as there are no two alike snow flakes and all of them are valid. In general, I believe most folks write because they have to write or they'd go insane not to do so. Some write for catharsis, some with the hope of getting published, and some because they can. Regardless of the reason behind it all, it makes for a better person if they do it with the intention of improving as they forge ahead and accept constructive advice with a grain of salt (not always easy to do, I know from personal experience). Anyway, yes, welcome back and do please tell us why you write as well – would enjoy knowing more. Thanks. D (Moderator and sometimes writer)
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marty
Advanced Member Username: marty
Post Number: 589 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - 6:31 pm: |
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I write because it has a therapeutic value to it. Sometimes when I am in pain, or when I am in such a joyful mood. Its a catharsis. Im looking forward to reading your forthcoming posts. Cheers Brethren
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Beau Blue
Advanced Member Username: beau_blue
Post Number: 278 Registered: 03-2004
| Posted on Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - 7:09 pm: |
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why do I write? It seems like a good idea at the time.
-blue |
Dale McLain
Advanced Member Username: sparklingseas
Post Number: 1013 Registered: 11-2004
| Posted on Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - 7:58 pm: |
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so I can breathe... take care~dale (Message edited by sparklingseas on August 02, 2005) |
k.j
New member Username: k_j
Post Number: 3 Registered: 07-2005
| Posted on Thursday, July 21, 2005 - 6:51 pm: |
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I write to clarify the ambiguities within and around me. |
Jim Doss
Senior Member Username: jimdoss
Post Number: 1650 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Friday, July 22, 2005 - 9:33 am: |
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Primarily because I hover in that zone between crazy and confused, and have the compulsive need to explain life to myself. I wouldn't wish this on anyone else. Jim Learning to Talk Again is now available at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1411625552, or http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=1411625552.
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LJ Cohen
Moderator Username: ljc
Post Number: 2495 Registered: 07-2002
| Posted on Friday, July 22, 2005 - 6:03 pm: |
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I write because it's the best way I have found to make sense of the world and my own emotions. I can't imagine not writing, in some way, shape, or form. It is the way I order my universe. best, ljc http://ljcbluemuse.blogspot.com/
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Veronica Yvonne
Member Username: yvonne
Post Number: 108 Registered: 03-2004
| Posted on Saturday, July 30, 2005 - 5:38 pm: |
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I write because there are things that I want to say. I write poetry because that is the best way I know to say some of them, since in poetry I can use words and lines in ways that I can't in prose or speech (at least not without sounding like a doof, and being thus ineffective). I write because I want to get better at writing. I write because I want to learn (discover, analyze) what I think or know. In writing, I force myself to express in words things that could easily go unsaid and thereby unnoticed. I also can go back, reread, and think whether what I have written is actually what I think or is right. (Then revise accordingly until I'm convinced that it is.) There may be more reasons. These are what come first to mind. Oh - and, apparently, I like it. But I think that's mostly a generalized statement of the things I've already said. Veronica (Message edited by yvonne on July 30, 2005) |
Gary Blankenship
Senior Member Username: garyb
Post Number: 4371 Registered: 07-2001
| Posted on Saturday, July 30, 2005 - 8:23 pm: |
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because I must because I can because the words are there because my muse insists because I'm channelled by a Chinese poet dead for 1200 years because I can let go and let it out because there are crows on the roof rain water in the gutters and stray cats in the driveway because there are 10000 becauses and only seconds to relay them all Gary Drop in read the new MindFire, 2005's first Go in through http://www.mindfirerenew.com/ to get to the issue in a click or two.
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Kathy Paupore
Advanced Member Username: kathy
Post Number: 2254 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Sunday, July 31, 2005 - 9:03 am: |
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I write to slow down the frantic pace of life and put those moments that would otherwise be forgotten or missed down in black on white, and pretty much what everyone else has said too. K
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Joshua Johnston
New member Username: silverfire
Post Number: 10 Registered: 06-2005
| Posted on Monday, August 01, 2005 - 3:20 pm: |
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I write because I want to. :D |
J.D.A.
New member Username: lex
Post Number: 10 Registered: 07-2005
| Posted on Tuesday, August 02, 2005 - 8:49 pm: |
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I write because it is very simple. Not that I don't make it reall complicated sometimes by not correctly punctuating or spellling: or using words that I don't know the meaning of, but sound really nice and transpondent. Ah what the heck what else would I be doing? Trying to make up words? It is very simple, I just do. It makes me who I am, unperfect but pleasant to be around. |
Michael MV
Senior Member Username: michaelv
Post Number: 949 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 10:27 am: |
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I create I compose therefore I am Michael (MV)
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Denis M. Garrison
Advanced Member Username: denismgarrison
Post Number: 453 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 10:37 am: |
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I have thoughts and a pen. Readers exist. What else am I to do? Denis www.dmgar.com Visit Haiku Harvest at www.haikuharvest.net Visit Loch Raven Review at www.lochravenreview.com My books are available at www.lulu.com/denismgarrison
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Emusing
Moderator Username: emusing
Post Number: 1433 Registered: 08-2003
| Posted on Thursday, August 04, 2005 - 1:23 am: |
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Perhaps the answer is axiomatic. I write because one of the highest purposes in art is the creation of an effect. I like to create effects. I like to have effects created upon me. Poetry delivers this at the finest wavelength imaginable. The epiphanies in poetry could probably be measured on an oscilloscope. How's that for scientific! I'm also an idealist and believe that poetry can change the world. E
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Vienna
Senior Member Username: vienna
Post Number: 319 Registered: 11-1998
| Posted on Thursday, August 04, 2005 - 3:48 am: |
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E You're not, perchance; an ENFP are you? V 'All of us get lost in the darkness Dreamers learn to steer by the stars' Neil Peart My poetry books at Lulu http://people.lulu.com/users/index.php?fHomepage=101596
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Penelope
New member Username: penelope
Post Number: 5 Registered: 07-2005
| Posted on Thursday, August 04, 2005 - 6:18 am: |
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Whether writing or reading poetry, it's a way of tricking my intellect into silence and letting the whole me speak. When I read a poem that works, it's my voice I hear, as well. It erases all boundaries btween divided self, me, you,this and other. It's a thrilling experience of wholeness and it's always a metaphorical surprise. That makes me believe in the possibility of everything including me. That's why I'm hooked. |
Emusing
Moderator Username: emusing
Post Number: 1434 Registered: 08-2003
| Posted on Thursday, August 04, 2005 - 10:24 am: |
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Ha ha V. I had to google that. No dear, not an ENFP. Unless it means Extremely Nutty Freelance Poet or ______________. Good poetry captures the impossible--I think this question is quite difficult to answer because there are just as many reasons for writing as there are poems to write. x E |
Veronica Yvonne
Valued Member Username: yvonne
Post Number: 111 Registered: 03-2004
| Posted on Thursday, August 04, 2005 - 11:26 am: |
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Interesting...I don't ever want to "trick my intellect into silence." Poetry, to my judgment, is not a way of quieting the mind but of using it in a different way. It is perhaps even more about the intellect than ordinary conversation: it's about using the right words, only the right words, and that takes a good bit of thought. (That's another reason of mine, or maybe one of the same said a different way. Another part of "I like it.") |
Penelope
New member Username: penelope
Post Number: 6 Registered: 07-2005
| Posted on Friday, August 05, 2005 - 5:03 am: |
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I so agree with you, Veronica, about language. It is the tool of the craft and certainly a function of the intellect, always running in the background. I was talking more about being in the beginner's mind and silencing the internal critic who constantly fuels that monkey mind the Buddhists describe. Of course, they are their boisterous selves as soon as pen leaves page and ever so present in the editing process. There's a volume control but no mute. (Message edited by Penelope on August 05, 2005) |
E V Brooks
Advanced Member Username: lia
Post Number: 1250 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 5:55 pm: |
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I write to understand lia |
Christopher T George
Advanced Member Username: chrisgeorge
Post Number: 1786 Registered: 12-2004
| Posted on Sunday, August 07, 2005 - 10:25 am: |
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Hi all This might sound conceited but I write because I authentically believe I have something to say. Also I don't write "for myself" alone as some writers say. My writing is done expressly for publication or to share with others in public readings. Chris Editor, Desert Moon Review http://www.desertmoonreview.com/ http://chrisgeorge.netpublish.net/ http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com
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susan wiener
Valued Member Username: susie
Post Number: 194 Registered: 07-2004
| Posted on Sunday, August 07, 2005 - 3:17 pm: |
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I write because I need to. I do a little every day and it helps me cope with my back pain and other trials my husband and I face. I really enjoy it and the publication of some of my work is an added bonus. |
Danielle Stokes
New member Username: abornpoet
Post Number: 20 Registered: 08-2005
| Posted on Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 9:45 am: |
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I write out of habit as oppose to hobby. It is a must. The thought comes to me, the pen to the page, the poem to life. And I provoke it as often as possible - sometimes through nature, sometimes love or sorrow and sometimes just by closing my eyes and gathering wool. |
RJ K
New member Username: scribbledtales
Post Number: 2 Registered: 08-2005
| Posted on Sunday, August 14, 2005 - 10:06 pm: |
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Writing is something that has never been taken for granted by me. Whether I am telling a story or going on and on about some nonsense, it's something I love to do and something I hope to get recoginzed (I know I butchered that word) for. It's also great when people read my poems, tell me what I could do better, what was absolutely perfect, and it's basically just the satisfaction of knowing "If someone can relate to what I can write -- and it effects them, that's something not everyone can do." |
Veronica Yvonne
Valued Member Username: yvonne
Post Number: 117 Registered: 03-2004
| Posted on Monday, August 15, 2005 - 8:31 am: |
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Alijandro, is it later in the thread by now? What were you frustrated with that made you leave before? |