WHY I CAN’T QUIT WRITING

By Peg Finley

I’m an addict. I’m addicted to writing. I am incapable of quitting. It means too much to me.

Now before you decide to stop reading because you just read the words I am an addict, hear me out.      

Writing is addictive without any of the negative effects of many addictions. A writing addiction doesn’t cause weight gain like a food addiction does. It doesn’t cause a writer to lose their family or drain a writer of all their money like a gambling addiction does. A writing addiction doesn’t take and mess with the brain cells like a drug addiction does. It doesn’t make a writer do anything illegal.

It actually has some benefits. The health experts say as one gets older, the brain cells are not as active. They say “either use it or lose it”. For me writing makes me use all of whatever brain cells I have left just to write clearly. It focuses me on learning new words, and new techniques as well as new technologies to further my career. I am determined to use all that I have to accomplish my goals.

Writing makes me use my imagination. Now I find that I am more creative than I have ever been. Ideas come at me even in the semi-sleep stages begging me to get up and record them before I forget them. It doesn’t matter that I’ve worked all day or that I scrubbed every surface in the kitchen and bedroom… sleep has to wait until the characters in my brain come to life on paper.

Writing gives me a natural high. It lifts my spirits and keeps me from concentrating on the negatives I encounter in life. From my attempts to create a rebus story to my learning how to write nonfiction articles, I like the challenge of putting my thoughts down.  I like knowing that others like reading what I write. It makes me feel great to know that I have helped another writer on their writing journey via the tips I write. I love the feeling that comes from acceptances.

I find that being disciplined enough to foster my writing addiction has forced me to become a better role model for the two special needs boys I am helping to raise. Every day I tell them that they can do and become anything they want to be. I remind them that applying themselves to their school work and studying lays the foundation for their futures. They see me sitting at the computer daily. They are developing a good work ethnic as a result of my writing addiction.

I can’t quit writing for another reason. It’s always been a dream of mine to write and illustrate my own picture book. As I build a great “writer’s resume” I come closer and closer to the fulfillment of that dream. I’m too egoistical to stop short of my dream. My addiction to writing tells me that there is actually a good possibility that I can write my own picture book and get it published. The illustration part can be achieved far in the future if I continue on the course I am pursuing.

My writing addiction drives me to find like-minded souls who share my dreams. The health experts say that those who lead active social lives live longer. If that is true, I’m in for a long life. Since the writing community is so supportive of its members, I feel my addiction helps me be a more positive person.

I repeat. I am an addict. I am addicted to writing. I am incapable of quitting. Writing is my lifeline.