Friday, the hashtag #WhyIWrite trended. Today I am happy to join a Linkup “Why I Write” with the Finish the Sentence Friday gang. (Which, when I can get to it, is generally Finish the Sentence Sunday.) And also tell you about a super flash writing challenge.

The shortest answer:

 

Many writers love to talk and read about writing.

I’m no exception. This next piece of prose is an “oldie” for me.  So it feels different. This piece stands out in my writing journey because it was acknowledged at the moment I needed a push from the universe.

Keep going. Learn more. Share.

So, Thank you to Redbubble for featuring it when I needed to be validated and Thank you to Finelines for putting it into print. One of my first accepted for publication.

 

Why do I write?

A cyclical addiction that I cannot deny, I am lured by the mixing of reality with hope. I binge on the emotion, wallowing in its depth. The endorphins give me the texture, enable the distorted visions, and find the purpose in tragedy. Touching the places in the soul that are held private; protected.

The motion is not graceful and feels sudden when I urgently purge all of these senses onto the canvas. Notebook after notebook of scratches, words barely legible in the intoxication of the moment. Moving the pen to the muse – allowing her to torment me, taunt me, into motion. Purging what I have not only felt, but also seen, heard, touched, tasted, believed and was betrayed.

The cycle continues with the shame. The guilt of vanity – did I really think I could do this? The fear.  Failure to touch a single soul. Failure to convey what was mine and is now yours. The crash. The hangover. The editor. Swooping in to fill my head with the pounding of doubt. The sun that filled my spirit with joyous motion has turned to burn the scars and remnants of urban, modern, social, responsible realities.

Yet, the gnawing in my gut stirs again. Am I hungry? I sneak away for a taste in solitude. I am as a child in the corner, anxious and watching the world’s motion speeding by. I begin to fill up on the moment, the passion, the fear. I succumb to swim in the poetry and let the words dance about my spirit. I greedily digest every emotion without inhibition knowing I will have to throw it all up to the universe.  Pay the toll. And hope to become hungry again.

 

Now I write and write and I write in this life and in my other life and on and on and on. I’ve learned so much about craft, selling, publication, and myself since I wrote that, well, confession.

One of the most important things I’ve learned is to both make the time/space to write and also to take the time/space whenever I can – even if it is in very small chunks. This leads me to a fun challenge I’d like to introduce you to. #TwitterFlash.  Can you write a flash story on Twitter? Why yes, I venture you can.  The Carrot Ranch community hosts a flash fiction contest every week. It’s great fun and can often get your juices going over even a lunch break. I’m pro-that.

#FFRodeo #TwitterFlash

Essentially, write a 99 word, flash fiction story, in 11 tweets. There are a few more details, if you want to be considered in the contest. Check out the rules of this contest here: Flash Fiction Rodeo Contest #5  

I did one, just for the quick fun of it here  (Open the link and read the thread for the flash piece.) Disclaimer: Mine is not eligible OR any indication of what the judges are “looking for” – simply done as a quick one off to see how it works. I had fun and suspect I will do more #TwitterFlash in the future.

Thanks for the linkup today with Finding Ninee and Kenya Johnson of Sporadically Yours.Check out what’s going on in those writing worlds. Enjoy!