Why do I write? With all the mind gymnastics involved, can I actually say it's enjoyable?

The stories in my head are like a small army.

Character by character, the story gains strength, growing bigger and more powerful by the day.

If I let them sit idle for too long, the warning signals flash. Let the army march!

And if I don’t listen to the signals, the army completes a hostile takeover. It occupies all my mental space, leaving little room for me to think about anything else.

I write to let the soldiers do their job: fly in peace out of my head and into the world.

Clara Andrade

WHY DO I WRITE?

Rather than being a chore, for me, writing is relaxing, and at times, enlightening. I enjoy it because the process allows me to step outside myself and into the minds of my characters. Using my imagination, I experience their sensory perceptions as they live their lives.

I've found that writing is a gift that allows me to alter my point of view in a way that transcends age, gender, sexual orientation, race, space and time. And yet, writing is more than pure escapism, as my own memories, opinions and emotional responses are interwoven into the fictional world that I create. This allows me to reflect on my own passage through life, while assuming the form of another's.

To some, this introspection may seem self-indulgent, and my exploration of what it might be like to be someone else a little voyeuristic.

But then, these attributes are the essence of much of what we call the wider 'arts'.

Rob Carrick

The reason I write is that I enjoy it because it turns my brain inside out, and sometimes every word feels like I’m digging a trench with my bare hands, and even when I think I’m done I come back later and realise most of what I’ve written could be a lot better.

Even when I deliberately extend sentences as close to infinity as allowable.

Matt Jackson

Copyright: texts Clara Andrade & Robert Carrick; pictures Wix.

Posts on this SSOA blog are published to showcase the work of emerging writers who meet weekly to workshop their short stories, memoir or novels. The posts comprise just some of the responses written in just 10 minutes as a warm up to the meetings.

If you'd like to join any of our groups, contact us at www.ssoa.com.au