• Have you ever read a book, thinking to yourself, “I could have written this”?

• Do friends or family members tell you that you should write your life story?

• Do you feel a burning desire to share your experiences, thoughts and ideas with a wider audience?

• Have you ever felt better after writing in a journal or diary? Does writing help you process your emotions, work through feelings and come to terms with issues?

• Do you write letters that you don’t intend to send—letters with the purpose of expressing negative feelings, to get them out of your system?

There are many, many reasons that people pick up a pen and write … or sit down with a laptop and pour out their heart and soul. Some of us are professional writers who earn our living by putting pen to paper. But millions of people write for other reasons, as varied as the persons who do the writing.

Leaving a legacy
Some people write for posterity—they want to leave a permanent record of their lives, and in doing so, hope to gain some small measure of immortality. For many, it’s a way of passing on important life lessons to kids and grandkids—in the form of family stories, traditions and memories. Such future-oriented writers hope that younger generations reading their memoirs or journals will gain some appreciation for who the writer was and how she lived. People writing for posterity often choose diaries or journals to collect their thoughts, as well as saving bundles of letters (from the days when people still wrote them).

Some legacy-oriented writers do more than journal or collect letters, however—they actually sit down and write their life stories, in the form of memoirs or autobiographies. Such writings attempt to put life events into perspective, placing their day-to-day experiences into a larger context—historical, cultural, and perhaps political. My stepfather wrote his life story—not for a publisher, but for his kids, so that they might understand better who he was, how his World War II experience affected him, and why he was the kind of father he was.

Catharsis, therapy, and healing
Writing is a wonderful tool for working out unpleasant thoughts and feelings. There is something about the writing process, especially when done in longhand (rather than with a computer), that drains negative feelings from the body, allowing toxic resentment and anger to dissipate harmlessly. Some people write letters to someone who hurt them, getting those feelings on paper rather than exploding in person.

Other people write letters to parents or others who have already died, providing the writer with an opportunity to complete any unfinished business he or she has been carrying around. It is a great way to unburden oneself of guilt, remorse, grief or other difficult feelings. And many folks use daily writing time, in journals or diaries, to gain perspective on the day and immediate events. Libraries are full of wonderful diaries and journals written in times long past. In them we see the world through the diarist’s eyes. We can appreciate the momentous historical events some of them lived through, as well as the mundane, ordinary aspects of their lives. Whether written by a famous person or an ordinary citizen, these writings are a rich repository of
human experience.

Helping others
It’s always great when we can learn from others’ experiences, rather than having to go out and reinvent the wheel, making the same mistakes. A majority of writers know this and have a deep desire to share their life events so that others may avoid the mistakes they made. These are often the “wounded healers”—those who want to share their own psychic wounds, emotional scars and moral sins as cautionary tales so that others might learn from their misadventures and personal failings.

Putting the pieces together
Some of us write for ourselves, not for the benefit of others. We write as a way of trying to understand ourselves, piecing together the various fragments of our lives, much as one pieces together a jigsaw puzzle. The process of writing gives us a better perspective than simply talking about our lives. There is something inherently integrative about the writing process, allowing us to see patterns and themes, while tying up any loose ends that might have unraveled around the edges. Dr. Robert Butler, a distinguished psychiatrist and gerontologist, coined a term for such a process. He calls it “life review.” Butler says that one of the key tasks of later life is to find meaning, to answer the questions, “What’s it all about? What’s the meaning of my life?” Writing is enormously helpful in this process.

Creative self-expression
Writing provides an important outlet for creativity. In her book, “The Artist’s Way,“ Julia Cameron suggests writing two to three pages every morning before you launch into your day. She says that this helps unlock your creativity, as you free-write whatever comes to mind first thing in the morning. You are still a little sleepy and therefore closer to your dreaming
state than you would be later in the day. Writing “morning pages” is a terrific way to tap into the deep well of creativity that is within you. It doesn’t matter if your creative writing is prose, poetry, bits and fragments of thoughts, full-blown essays or short stories, volatile rants, or the Great American Novel. Find your own voice; express yourself freely; and let your creativity emerge for your own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others.

How-to
Maybe you know how to do something that no one else knows how to do. Perhaps you’ve got a stash of wonderful recipes that would make a great cookbook, or you’ve discovered your own secret way of losing weight or building a great body. Maybe you’ve invented something that others want to learn about. Americans are voracious consumers of how-to books and we always love to learn something new, especially something that will improve our lives. If you know how to do something that no one else knows, by all means, write it down! Turn it into a book, or even a booklet, and see if others are interested.

Making money
Of course, let us not forget that there is always the possibility that you can make money with your writing. Perhaps others are willing to pay for what you write—whether it’s a collection of entertaining short stories, your intriguing memoirs, a great novel, a terrific screenplay, a lovely book of poetry, or a bundle of love letters between you and an old flame. You never know when something you write might be so interesting and engaging that others want to buy it.

You just never know when you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard where the writing process will take you. It is always an adventure—sometimes an adventure in self understanding, sometimes an escapade in creativity, always a rewarding use of time.