I thought it worthwhile to ponder what happens when I write.  It is largely a mystery to me, but yet something I enjoy doing and work at passionately until I am happy with the result.

I would like to be able to say I have a set schedule for writing which I follow each day.  I  am still working on one.  So far I write in the mornings and do other things in the afternoon.  Mornings seem productive because my mind is rested and ready for work.

What I write does not seem to matter.  I can be adding narrative to my novel or working on my blog.  It doesn’t even matter if I am transcribing notes from a meeting I attended.  It’s the act of writing, putting a sentence together that accurately conveys what happened in a way that pleases and draws attention.  I do not write just to share facts or record events.  I write to please others and myself.

I sometimes write to untangle feelings generated by an experience I’ve had.   While I am doing that, I am able to understand the significance of what happened or what my true feelings are.  If it is a problem I am facing, writing often reveals a solution to me.  I believe this happens due to the fact that when I write I slow my mind down and focus sequentially on each thought.

Other times I write for entertainment.  When I am writing my novel, I am motivated to see where the story will go and how it is fitting together.  The payoff  comes when I sit back and take the role of reader and  glide into something crafted from my own experiences.  Maybe writing here is an escape of reality to a world I have created.  In my latest novel, there is a flashback to when I was growing up and I can almost see the vintage cars, the blossoms on the trees, the way things were when I was a child.  It’s gives me satisfaction exploring the scenes which are a combination of imagination and experience.

Sometimes I write for the discipline of it.  This is true when I write a poem.  I look for words that have the right sound and meter to fit my rhyming scheme.  When I use the word discipline, I usually think of unpleasant things.  But in this case, working on a poem is like marching in time with a military drill unit.  When I am successful it looks good…and sounds good.

There are times when I write to keep my tools (eg typing, computer use, sentence construction) sharp.  I don’t dare let them rust at this time in my life.  Tools sometimes degrade when they are not used.  I need to use my writing skills to keep them in working order.

The final thing I’ve noticed happens when I write is there is a mystical connection to something outside myself.  I usually call it God.  Others call it their Muse.  I won’t say I am right and others are wrong.  I will say that there is something outside me that connects with me every time I write.  I feel a solid channel of ideas and words pouring from mind to fingers  with a force that my fingers can barely match.  There is bouncing vitality and energy that does not occur at any other time for me.

For me, what happens when I write cannot really be explained, it is simply experienced.