Digressions: My Life in 500 Words or Less

I created this website about the same time I left my job as a newspaper features writer. At the newspaper one of my responsibilities had been to write a column, and I enjoyed it so much I wanted to continue doing something similar after I left. That resulted in me creating this blog.

That was almost three years ago.

With few exceptions I’ve written and posted this blog twice a month. The main difference between my newspaper column and the blog is this: I’m not getting paid for this blog.

So why do it?

Why would someone intentionally create more work for themselves? As a writer, don’t I have more important projects to work on which could result in publication on a wider scale and possibly financial compensation?

The answer to the last question is, yes, I most certainly do.

The answers to the first two questions are identical: as far as I’m concerned, I need to.

In a nutshell it comes down to something I’ve told members of my writers’ group in one form or another: writing begets writing. The more I write, the more I want to write.

Despite seeming to be counterintuitive, I’ve found those statements to be unfailingly true. And I embrace the philosophy because I cannot imagine a life without writing.

Some might think spending a lot of time engaged in a specific activity would make you want to avoid it when possible. Not so. At least not for me when it comes to writing.

In fact, the opposite seems to be true. Though I do enjoy time outside my writing work, I’ve found myself often driven to take on other creative writing projects which, on the face of it, don’t appear to be beneficial.

For example, facilitating my writers’ group — which I’ve been doing for more than 17 years — is another way I’ve immersed myself in writing activity. It is a volunteer role I took on when I founded the group, and I have found being around the creative energy of other writers spurs my own writing.

Additionally, writing this blog sparks my creativity. In essence, it is an exercise in recognizing freedom from restrictions in writing. Though I imposed a word limit on myself, I am not otherwise restricted by topic, genre or format.

And now I’ve added yet another creative writing outlet.

A couple of Mondays ago I started a new feature at my author’s page on Facebook. I created something called “Bobservations.” These consist of original, pithy statements meant to offer amusement and insight on general or trivial matters.

Some might think a writer engaging in activity which does not directly contribute to furthering his or her writing project is wasting time or procrastinating. That is not the case for me because I have maintained my schedule of working on my writing projects.

In fact, I’ve been getting more done than ever. No surprise for me there.

The more I write, the more I want to write.