I write because I have so many thoughts in my head that I can’t possible express them all in spoken word. I write things down when my mouth won’t open to voice my thoughts. I write things when the only thing that seems to function is my brain and my hand holding the pen touching a blank piece of paper or my hands that type on the computer keyboard.

Sometimes, I am not sure if there is some glitch in my brain where my thoughts can’t translate through voice but my thoughts can only appear written on a page. For example, when I am so overwhelmed by feelings instead of screaming at the person I am mad at or crying out words in sadness, I take to my journal to let the thoughts escape from my brain.

I write more than I talk. I write to relieve stress. I write to express my thoughts and feelings. I would rather write a love letter then talking to my love over the phone. I would rather write an article on my opinions then speaking in front of a group. I write so I have more time to think and make sure my thoughts are conveyed exactly how I want them to be. I feel more thought is put into writing than speaking. I write because the words on the page are ingrained in my brain rather than floating around in air with random thoughts. If I don’t write things down, I often forget what I what I was going to say. I write to take notes on readings. I write to make lists of things I can’t forget. I always write with a purpose in mind whether it is to let my feelings run free, to help me not forget something, to share my opinions on a topic to a larger audience, or to tell people about something I think they should know about.

Sometimes, I write with the purpose to receive a good grade. In homework assignments, I am forced to write things I normally wouldn’t write about but I still have the purpose of trying to make the teacher proud so I can receive a good grade. While I may not always enjoy writing for school purposes, it forces me to practice my writing skills in different ways and forces me to explore different subjects I may not have thought about before.

School writing projects have also produced some of my best writing. Ever since I was a child I have enjoyed writing and school is what introduced me to writing. When I was in second grade I remember writing a book about a horse for our class. I don’t remember exactly what the story was about but I remember drawing illustrations for the book and being super excited about putting the pages together and forming a book. There was another time I wrote this long, crazy descriptive story that included about five adjectives in each sentence. The assignment was only supposed to be a page front and back and I wrote four pages front and back. I spent so much time on the assignment because I love to write.

So if you ask me “why I write?” the simple answer is because I love to write.