Why I Write

Hello readers of ‘James Proclaims’, whoever and wherever you may be. If you’re tuning in on a Monday then you’re probably looking for my ‘hilarious’ regular feature ‘James Complains’. But it’s not here. Instead there’s this.

But what is ‘this’?

Well I’ve only gone and signed up for another of those blogging courses that WordPress runs from time to time. This one’s called Writing 101. It lasts for four weeks. During that time I’ll be filling these pages with posts inspired by assignments from afore-mentioned course.

They may not all be worth reading, but I’ll do my best.

Today’s assignment was to answer the question :

Why do you write?

I write because I enjoy it. That’s definitely the main reason.

I do have this outlandish notion that someone one day might pay me for being a writer. Perhaps that it might even make me wealthy. And I wouldn’t be against that at all.

But if it doesn’t happen I’ll probably still write.

I write because I enjoy the ego boost I get when someone tells me they’ve enjoyed what I’ve written. It’s nice when someone recognises you for being good at something that you want to be good at. I need that kind of validation from time to time – I have a fragile self-esteem.

I can’t play a musical instrument (at least not in tune), I’m not especially athletic, and aside from a few rudimentary cartoons, I’m not at all able when it comes to the visual arts.

But sometimes I write stuff that makes people laugh.

And that makes me happy in my own little way.