By Judith Ford
1. Writing makes me feel whole.
2. Writing wakes me up.
3. I write to find out what I’m really feeling.
4. I write to tell the truth without caveats.
5. Writing is a reliable companion.
6. Writing creates structure in the midst of emptiness.
7. When I write I am nobody but myself.
8. When I write I take up all the available space.
9. Writing is one of the few things I, all by myself, own.
10. When I was a young woman and very alone, writing literally saved my life.
11. When I was 10 and wrote my first short stories, it got me a lot of attention.
12. I like saying to myself, “I am a writer.”
13. Writing always has new things to teach me.
14. I write because I made a commitment to finish this damn book and it isn’t done yet.
15. I write because of people like Tennessee Williams, Annie Dillard, Russell Banks, Louise Gluck and Michael Ondaatje. To name but a few.
16. I write because I have always loved words.
17. I write because I am reasonably adept at it and the competence feels good, like using a trained muscle.
18. I write so that I can say more of what I want to say than anyone I know would ever be willing to listen to.
19. I write because if I didn’t I think my head might blow up from all the stuff that rises up and blows around in there.
20. I write because every now and then words pop into my head and I think, yes, that is exactly right, and I don’t want to forget.
21. I write to bear witness to life. Mine, other people’s, birds and dogs and the ugly wolf spider that showed up inside the seatbelt pad in my car.
22. I write because I always wanted to be a dancer, singer, actor, poet. And now that I’m almost 60, writing is the one I still have time to get really good at.
23. I can’t imagine not writing.
24. I write because really I have always had way too much performance anxiety to act or sing or dance. Writing happens in solitude; the audience comes later and by then, I can stand it.
25. I write because I have found I really enjoy being with other writers. You are my kind.
About writing, Judith says: I have been writing close to forever. Since I was in grade school and wrote fantasy stories about my Giant Flemish rabbit, Dynamite.
As I write this I am alone in a cabin on the Lake Michigan shore, with my dog, Pericles. This is what it takes for me to dive as deep as I need to work on my book, Fever of Unknown Origin. It is supposed to be springtime but today the wind is icy and hard pellets of snow sweep across the beach. All of this, plus the 5000 tunes on my ipod and the fire in the fireplace help me be still enough, help me be strong enough, to work and rework the 600+ pages of manuscript that I’ve brought with me.
The book is a memoir, with multiple story lines – about my own experience with a near-fatal illness, my mother’s stroke and eventual death, my father’s death by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – interwoven with anecdotes of family history. It’s a book about coping, about building structures and having them torn down, going on anyway, surrendering sometimes to the undertow, fighting back, waking up, going back to sleep even after multiple vows never to miss another second of eyes-wide-open life.
Lake Michigan Shoreline With Pericles, April 9th, 2007, photo © 2007 by Judith Ford. All rights reserved.
–related to Topic post, WRITING TOPIC – 25 REASONS I WRITE
Love this very clever blog. I write because I can. Sometimes because I have to like sneezing when I get black pepper up my nose. hehe anitamorrell.wordpress.com
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Having to sneeze and having to write–ain’t that the truth!
Glad you enjoy the blog. We’re having fun with it.
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When you sneeze there’s that moment of blindness that seems so eternal to a writer. If you can write, write.
Keep coming back and bring kleenex.
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#22: I write because I always wanted to be a dancer, singer, actor, poet. And now that I’m almost 60, writing is the one I still have time to get really good at.
I love this one.
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#9: Writing is one of the few things I, all by myself, own.
It is a funny one and a good one. Writing is not a team sport. And yet
#25: I write because I have found I really enjoy being with other writers.
I love both of these.
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Jude, I love seeing your words on red Ravine. So happy to have you here in the same space. These are my favorites:
8. When I write I take up all the available space.
21. I write to bear witness to life. Mine, other people’s, birds and dogs and the ugly wolf spider that showed up inside the seatbelt pad in my car.
4. I write to tell the truth without caveats.
6. Writing creates structure in the midst of emptiness.
Oh, and the photo of Peri. : – )
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Anita,
Yeah, it IS like sneezing when that old black pepper gets up the nose. Can’t not do it! Stopped by your blog tonight. LOVE your paintings and the photos on your site. Keep posting them!
As someone once said, I’ll be back.
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Oh, Jude, I have to say this caught my attention – “fantasy stories about my Giant Flemish rabbit, Dynamite.” What’s a Flemish rabbit? And whatever happened to Dynamite?
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cool list… I’m gonna go write one up for myself now, thanks for the great idea
~~EK
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EK,
Thanks for dropping by! We’ll look forward to seeing your 25 Reasons. Saw your site this morning. Some compelling things on Practice. I commented this morning on your Conventional Advice. It’s good to dialogue about writing. And stay connected to other writers.
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Thanks to all who have left comments on my 25 reasons. I am new to the blog process and am delighted to have this kind of dialogue available.
Pepper in my nose; writing as sneeze. I like that.
QM- a Giant Flemish rabbit is a big huge white bunny who weighs about 20 pounds. Very beautiful and very dumb. He was an Easter present from parents and died in a way that changed my life. I was 13 ; the rabbit had been ill for days. I had just finished sending a prayer to God, vowing to stay a virgin til I married if only He would make my rabbit get well. I walked outside to the check on Dynamite and the instant the rabbit saw me he went into a convulsion and died, right before my terrified eyes. So much for virginity.
JM
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Jude, thanks for the story about Dynamite. I knew there must be a story there! Seems like a powerful one full of symbolism. Amazing the things that take us to writing. Thanks for writing with us. I hope you’ll keep visiting.
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Thanks for asking about Dynamite, QM. Nice to meet you in this new setting. Jude
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I’m especially fond of #22. That once we get on board and get serious about this passion we share, there is time.
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I think this is a big one, time. Especially for people who switch careers or try to follow a creative passion later in life. I believe there is time only if we make time.
I hear many say they don’t have time for the things that are important to them. I used to say it a lot, too. But I don’t buy it anymore. There is time if we make time.
It’s kind of like friendships that way. If someone tells me they are too busy to get together with me or call, I know it’s a choice they are making. And the friendship is changing or we are growing apart. That’s not always a bad thing. People do change and grow. They also come back together. Things weave in and out.
There is one thing about #22 on her list – when things are physical like dancing, or have to do with the body, like singing or acting, our bodies do age and, eventually, wear out.
I like it that we can write right up to the end. 8)
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[…] Judith Ford, 25 Reasons I Write […]
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[…] 25 Reasons I Write by Judith Ford […]
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I read through Jude’s list again, and often smiled knowlingly.
Yesterday, someone said to me, “Did you know that Frank McCourt didn’t start writing until he was 66?” I’m 46, and the person was trying to encourage me to not despair.
I don’t know if she was exactly right on his age, but probably close.
So, like back on April 20th of 2007, I’m going to go with #22.
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Sinclair, #22 works. You inspired me to go back and read my own list from this Topic post. These are the ones that stuck out for me from my old llist:
-I don’t know why I write but I’ve built my whole life around it.
-I write because lost is a place and writing is the map.
-I write because fear sneaks in at all hours of the day and night.
It kind of makes me want to make a new list or do a writing practice and connect it to the WRITING TOPIC – 25 REASONS I WRITE (LINK) topic again. Food for thought.
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[…] writer who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was red Ravine’s very first guest writer, with her 25 Reasons I Write post. Reason #14: “I write to finish this damn book and it isn’t done yet.” (Remember that […]
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[…] And she has written with these writers, too. Bob and Teri have been frequent guests on red Ravine. Jude was one of our first guests, writing her piece 25 Reasons I Write from one of the cabins near the […]
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[…] who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was red Ravine’s very first guest writer, with the piece 25 Reasons I Write. Judith’s other pieces on red Ravine include lang•widge, Mystery E.R., I Write Because, and […]
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