'Why We Write' By Jay Krishna | Digital Infotainment | Must Read

Why We Write ?

By Jay Krishna



PREFACE: Before you start reading the article, I would just like to say "Thank You", to all those who have helped me in publishing this article. This article is just an effort towards making the readers discover the benefits and means of writing, as I perceived it myself. Why we write, and for whom. Here I have given all that I could, that had flashed in my mind as an answer to this question, and I sincerely hope you all enjoy reading it.

What We Write is a way of reflection of Who We Are. Writing is an art, a medium of communication, maybe in some cases, the most important one. It can be preserved, replenished and renewed, over time. What can't be expressed in voice, can be, with the magic of words. Making one's mark in history, for millenniums to share. It is more or less like showing your heart through the medium of your soul. It's not just pen and paper, it's divine, magical gift. Whatever scribbles of text you see, in whichever language it maybe. Has a tale, a story or two. Showing what the other, has in his heart to you. According to historians, the earliest form of writing can be dated back to around 3000 BC, when Sumerians in ancient Mesopotamia(modern day Iraq) wrote on tablets made of clay. This writing system is known as cuneiform. Can I say that most of the time, the world is at peace because of the writings that we share, may it be, the constitution of  India or the smalls lines of courage(for say "Jai Hind"). Statements, poems, articles, and more.. Whatever we write has some background to it, linked with numerous conditions and circumstances. May it be a line, a paragraph, a page or a thesis. Whenever we write something, on anything. It is written with some purpose in hand. The contents of what is written is accompanied by the state of the mind, the environment that surrounds us, the feelings and emotions we are undergo at that moment, and the topic of choice, we are willing to speak about.
                                                                                  According to a statistical report, released by the United Nations International Telecommunications Union(ITU). More than 200,000 text messages are sent every second, accumulating to 1.6 trillion a year. Someone pinch me, that is a lot of words. There are over 110 million blogs in this world, written in more than 50 different languages. With this we come to know, that our whole life, we are surrounded by words, whether it be the present, the past or the coming future. The words we talk about maybe of different forms, they maybe words of love, wisdom, hate or just plain words without any actual meaning, but only words in the end.
Seriously though, why are all of us writing ? Why do we do it. It’s not like we’re making any money at it or growing fame overnight. Then why is it that, we still continue to do it ? After critically analyzing, and removing some of the long runs, I have come to the conclusion, that we write for the following reasons :

We write to be free, to be fully alive.: Sir Ken Robinson, a renowned writer, speaker and educationalist says :"The arts especially address, the idea of aesthetic experience. An aesthetic experience is one in which your senses are operating at their peak; when you’re present in the current moment; when you’re resonating with the excitement of this thing that you’re experiencing; when you are fully alive".

We write to be fully alive. Writing draws us into the moment. We see the blades of grass, hear the miniscule chirp of the morning cricket, watch the shade travel from one edge of the yard to the other, seemingly for the first time. We are free, from any sort of barricades. We can reach our full potential and let our minds run riot. Writing helps us make art out of every day ordinary living moments.


We write to make a name for ourselves.: Eric Arthur Blair, known by his pen name George Orwell, an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic, once said :"one motivation to write is sheer egoism, that we write out of the “desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered after death, to get your own back on the grown-ups who snubbed you in childhood etc".

That’s part of it, but I think the motivation goes much deeper than being well-liked in the present moment. If you’re being honest, you would agree that it would be nice to live forever. But if you can’t live forever physically, then why can’t your memories live forever? We still talk about William Shakespeare, Robert Frost, Thomas Hardy, and George Elliott long after their deaths. Why not you? It is this craving for remembrance that drives us.



We write to make a change in this  world.: People consume now more than ever in the history of the world. We eat more, we listen to more music, and we consume more information. Writing gives us a chance to turn the tides on consumerism. Rather than consume more, we can make something out of it also. Humans have a built in need to make our mark on the world. We want to bring new things to life, to mould things into the image we have in our imaginations, as all of us have our own unique mind set, skill and intuition, to subdue the earth. We write not just to change the world, but to create a new world. A world based on new concepts, ideas, beliefs and riches.

We write to find meaning.: The psychiatrist Victor Franklyn posited that, the main search of mankind is not happiness or pleasure but meaning. “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose,” he wrote in his book 'Man’s Search for Meaning'. All of us, at some point of time, want to know the purpose of our living, of why ? we were  brought to this world, and given the lucky chance of being born as human beings. The question of why ? how ? and for whom ? and to find the answers to them, are the driving forces that keeps us going, knowingly or unknowingly towards a path that only the almighty knows.


"The above article was published in the 2013-14 edition of 'Devadaru' (An initiative by the students of Cotton College, Assam) and was much appreciated. The article walks around the question of 'Why We Right' and how the author found the answer. The article has a well defined structure, containing poetic verses and examples. If you found this article to be entertaining or useful, then please LIKE the post and share, it is your encouragement that keeps us going :). If you want the author to write more such articles, then please leave a comment below and let us know.".

With Best Wish'es,
The Digital Infotainment Team.

JPEG's.:



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