Why do people write?

It’s a fundamental question, I presume not many people have pondered over. Writing has been a form of expression since the world existed and with every upcoming era, it has developed vastly, adding structure, genres, nuances, character developments and plot twists. To answer the question why humans write, we could say it’s fear to speak one’s feelings out loud. It could be the curiosity of what will come out on the page if feelings pour out. It may be the desire to memorise it forever, store it, remember it, and tuck it neatly in a dry corner till the world ceases to exist.

Writing has taken many shapes and forms since that first letter drew millennials back, and today we marvel at the creativity, imagination and talent some people possess, allowing ourselves to drown in the happiness, sorrow, misery, wonder and shyness that book stories evoke from within us. We become passengers of a narration, holding onto characters that don’t exist, swaying with the notion of the story, being compassionate, letting ourselves fear, cry or laugh, emphasising the feelings, and trying to imagine ourselves in these unique circumstances.

It is important to consider that different genres are born from the sincerity of one’s inner self. What you feel reflects on the page and therefore becomes a story.  It is an interesting retrospect to think of the first person that had ever come to write about mystery e.g. It is a genre that challenges the human mind to accept fear and conquer it. To delve into the human heart and find this little corner at the back of your mind that questions the existence or the reality of what is true or false must have been a remarkable milestone in the history of literature. Another is fantasy. To think of the great minds that have came up with wonderful worlds, giving vivid descriptions of plants, animals, and creatures of another world. These people were the first, giving filmmakers the starting point of putting that image from the canvas of their mind to the screen, making you smile that they nailed the vision or frown, convinced that no cinema can create what mind could.

If we put the stories we write or read into perspective, we get so lost in them that we forget none of it is real. That mostly applies to fantasy or romances, but no one forgets the real world while reading a book on how to deal with their finances, right?

People may write because of a wild imagination and desire to share it with others. We cannot argue that humanity does thrive on the feeling of mutual courage and companionship. Alone, we are nothing. If someone does own a story worth telling, and so kindly shares it with the world, the rest of us could only appreciate it and ask for more. On that note, we can also add loneliness to the list of reasons. Writing fictional characters, creating worlds that make reality seem like a distant land ahead, hoping for a fellowship that fills the void of real friendship or partnerships. It is wonderous how a character could become as close to a friend, despite owning the characteristics you gave them, making them the perfect company. Equally, the reader feels the same. We sympathise with them and only when we reach the final page does it strike us like a dream that none of it is real.

Speaking about characters and their stories, the way they reflect on us could be described almost as a hallucination. Their lives, albeit fictional, reflect on us, making our souls and hearts bleed. If a character dies, if their love despairs or if a tragedy of another sort occurs, we are there, eager to go through it all with them, taking everything the author gives us, turning every page excited and waiting to see what happens next. We are like an invisible hand we stretch to comfort those tangled in the story as if they know, through it all, someone is there. To make your audience cry their hearts out on the pages is a talent not everyone possesses. It is about the choice of words, the character built, delivery and arc. Everyone knows you do not care for a character you haven’t gotten to know, learn their story and feel appreciated for. We as humans crave something more than our mundane life offers, hence, the reason why authors deliver stories of characters and creatures that can give you more than just a life of taxes and paid parking spaces. No one would ever march into battle, fight a dragon, or rescue a kingdom from an evil sorcerer, but people earn for these adventures, rarely realising they would probably perish on day one in the story of their favourite book.

To combine all that together, despite being mentioned briefly, the answer to the question is pretty simple and obvious.

Escapism.

It may be a simple story of your life, decorated with some events that have never happened, but your imagination came up with them. It is nevertheless a story that was pushing at the back of your mind to come out free, and pen and paper were the answer. It may be the way to keep yourself mentally intact and release the tension that life causes. As humans, we are ready to take the final blow in a battle that happens in the story we read, but we are not ready to overcome what real life brings upon us. We could call it cowardice, or loneliness, or a high level of intelligence to deal with certain issues, but the case is the same nonetheless. People write to create a better world, for them and for those willing to read; books are the gates to other realms, waiting for you to open them and dive in headfirst, careless of what lies ahead.