Waarom schrijvers schrijven

Why do writers write?

People always ask: why do you write? The first thing you say is: not to make money if that’s what you think. But then you get stuck –it’s a difficult to answer question. Basically, it is so because there is an urge, the same painters feel when they get inspiration to paint, or when Michelangelo “saw” David in a solid block of shapeless marble. As Stephen King said: the story more or less writes itself, drawing on the author's experiences and fantasy to make it better and more realistic. I agree with the Master of Horror. When I wrote Complex, the manuscript currently laying at a publisher’s office for evaluation, I put in a lot of “me” in the story but it was that feeling, when waking up before normal people do, with a brilliant idea in your head, writing it down quickly to avoid the forgetful aspect of clarity –that feeling kept it going. Later you think: how did I come up with that? Or: where did that come from? Sometimes it really is the story itself, there in the most global form, like a dotted water painting of it. As a writer you have to interpret that main and incomplete form and put down your version of it –then it becomes a matter of talent and ways with words, but the stories seem to be there, in your mind, waiting for you to experience something, which makes you think of it and pluck it from the depths of your mind. Why do writers write? It is a pointless question, for there is no definitive answer: sometimes it’s because you’re angry; because you’re making a point; because you feel you have to. For me it’s usually the latter. When I write stuff, it’s not with a big schematic or building plan, a blueprint if you will, that’s gonna lead to the end-version. No, it’s putting your fingers on the keyboard or your pencil tot the blank pages and then, simply, write. When I write a chapter of some story automatically, jotting down line after line which my brain produces nearly subconsciously, I know it will be good one, or at least in my opinion. When I have to actively struggle to get the words down there, as is often the case for me with dialogues, then I know it will be stiff and fabricated. Why do writers write? Because they have to, because they feel the urge of a story waiting to materialize, because they cannot rest until they start working on it, feeling the liberating experience of the story coming to life. Writers create entire worlds that most people will never get to know, but sometimes a book can change your life. Sometimes getting a tear or a smile or an “atta boy” is a good answer to the tired old question: why do writers write?