Why I write ...

Margaret Atwood, in the introduction to her delightful book about writing, Negotiating with the Dead, wrote about the feeling of “finding yourself in a great library as a young writer, and gazing around at the thousands of books in it, and wondering if you really have anything of value to add.”

I write for other people. I write what they need or want me to write. They tell me what it is they want written – and this sometimes makes life a little easier. I don’t have to think up amazing topics or profound insights. And I love writing so this is all quite fun.

But I do often wonder if deep within me there is something “of value to add”. I’m not talking about an extraordinary, unexpected addition to scholarship. What I would really like to achieve is the ability to write just one or two phrases that stick in people’s minds – phrases that they quote at dinner with friends because they express so perfectly an idea they wish to convey. They won’t need to find the words because they have mine.

Of course, there are other things I want to achieve with my writing. I want to make a good living. I want to have time to explore new ideas and find ways to communicate them. I even want to one day dream up a fascinating plot for a novel.

Meanwhile, I will keep writing what others want me to write. And put my occasional thoughts on writing into this blog.