“Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.” - Graham Greene.
There are a plethora of reasons as to why you should write. And there are many more examples branching off of those reasons. However, only the following few will be stated: write because it fills the vacancy of your ever-beating heart, write because nothing will ever fill that emptiness, and you want to find a way to connect with someone, anyone who might understand; write because you’re bored and you have nothing better to do; write simply for the sake of bettering your writing skills; write because you’ve only just realized that you might die next week, or tomorrow, or five minutes from now, and you want to leave something behind for posterity.
To begin with, write because it fills the vacuousness of your very being. Write because you feel nothing will ever come close to filling that void, and you opt to find a way to connect with someone, anyone who understands. Maybe sometimes you feel as if you’re alone in the world and no one understands how that feels. Or perhaps, you’re extremely stressed after a try-out as you’re unsure whether you made it or not. Writing can be a way to escape those times. Whether you choose to write a journal entry, create a poem, a short story, or even a novel, you’ll find that by writing, you let go of those bad feelings and simply let it loose in your writing. By doing so, your writing may become better than it once was as you have added one vital element- something that leaves your mark- your feelings.
Additionally, writing can be a fantastic way to pass time if and when you have nothing else to do. Writing can not only clarify your thoughts but - can also be meditative. Your breathing slows as you concentrate on the words and allow them to flow out of your head onto a keyboard or piece of paper. There is a zone that writers get in where they are swept away by the words. The act of writing forces you to think about the events that happened during the course of the day. You are no longer involved in the situations which made you irritated or despondent, and you can elucidate what caused these events on paper. There are so many things you can do to pass the time while writing. Perhaps there is a book, movie, song, etc... that you love but there is a flaw in it. You have the ability to write your own improved version! All you need to do is pick up a pen, pencil, crayon, or some form of tool that you can write with (keep in mind you can also write on your laptop/computer/phone, typewriter, etc... - yay for technology).
Similarly, practicing can enhance your writing skills which undoubtedly will be something schools look at, as writing is a vitality in life. Although it may not seem all too important, writing is something that is used excessively in everyday life. Which is why schools look mostly at your writing skills among everything else. If you get ahead of the game and better your writing skills long before anyone is looking, you’ll have a greater chance of getting into the school you want. It’s unlikely that a school you apply for won’t ask for a written essay unless you sign up for a public school. Also big in schools, is public speaking. If you can write well, you should be able to read well. If you can read well, you should be able to talk well.
Finally, write simply because you don’t know how much time you have left on this earth. For all you know, tomorrow might be the last time you see your friends, family, etc... So take the time to write down happy memories and perhaps even create a scrapbook to hold the memories in. Because in the end, that’s all that will be left. The scrapbook might become the only thing to remember you by as the memories fade. They might no longer recall when something occurred but if they looked into the scrapbook at least they’d know for a fact that that moment had at one point occurred. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Just as it’s better to leave them with something than nothing.
In conclusion, write because it completes you, write because you need something to pass the time with; practice to increase your writing skills; write because you may not live to see tomorrow. The art of writing is that of many attributes: it can be comedic, dramatic, adventurous, etc. Whatever form of literature we desire, it is available to us. It’s only available to us, however, because someone dared to will it into existence. Writing has evolved throughout the years and miraculously survived to where we are today. This is likely because, as humans, writing is insistent and stubborn; hard to get rid of. It's likely to continue to evolve, just as we continue to do. You can choose whether or not you want to help it along the process of growing.
“I learned never to empty the well of my writing, but always to stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that fed it.” - Ernest Hemingway
