I used to write a lot. I once wrote a 60 page undergrad thesis1 and another time I wrote a 4000 word booklet because a friend asked.2 I’ve often thought of myself in the category of writer, which is of course laughable given that I write very little these days. A writer is, of course, someone who writes. That makes me an aspirational writer.
This is already one of those apologia for not writing that you see on many blogs. I’m not trying to do that, I’m just essaying to discover why I don’t write any more. And writing in the process.
There’s a lot of reasons why it’s hard to write. Most of them are bullshit, but they’re there, still. It’s a matter of coming up against the voice that keeps telling you that nobody wants to listen to what you have to say; of convincing yourself that the people who might not like you because of your thought aren’t worth caring about; of deciding that the danger of miscommunication is worth the attempt at communication.
4 responses to “I Used to Write”
@mattwiebe I know exactly what you mean because I feel the same way. I’ve thought of it as narrowing opportunities as I age.
@mattwiebe Hard to express in 140 characters, but the idea that focus and energy and family and work only spread so thin.
RT @mattwiebe: I Used To Write http://t.co/miz0DxJq59
@mattwiebe I like writing, too. I just like hiking and playing football and weightlifting more. I wish I could find the time but I can’t.