Why?
November 11th 2006 13:10
Why? It’s such a simple question. I’m told the simple answer is, “Why not?”
Well so much for philosophy 101.
As writers, Why? and Why not? are not enough. The “Why?” can be a chapter or ten, the “Why not?”, or indeed the “Because” could be the rest of the novel.
Let’s define the question a bit. Why write? And again the simple answer is “Why not?” Okay, so I’m being a smart arse. It goes with the territory, I’m a writer after all.
So why do writers write? There are many answers that come to mind, but the reason that is most true, is because writers fulfil the need of a people to keep their myths alive, to maintain the culture and history of society, of our past, for the future.
Before writing was invented there were the story tellers, often they were the shamans of the tribe. It was their job to keep the knowledge of the people safe for future generations. Things like what foods can be eaten, when to plant, how to hunt, what plants can be used for the tools of living. In short, the total knowledge of survival of the tribe. The shamans were the knowledge that even the chiefs paid heed to.
Most often the wisdom was wrapped in a story. An example of one such wisdom wrapped in a story is this email that was sent to me.
Cherokee Wisdom,
Two Wolves
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, ”My son, the battle is between two ”wolves” inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: ”Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, ”The one you feed.”
What has this to do with writers? I thought you would never ask. As writers we have immense power within our society. We are the lore keepers, the shamans of our people.
The people who govern know this to be true. They work against us, trivialise our worth, say “It’s only art” and play down anything that might reduce their control of the people.
They feed the dark side of the soul, turning writers into defiled, bent parodies of the lore keepers. These sad creatures are known as “Spin Doctors”.
Well so much for philosophy 101.
As writers, Why? and Why not? are not enough. The “Why?” can be a chapter or ten, the “Why not?”, or indeed the “Because” could be the rest of the novel.
Let’s define the question a bit. Why write? And again the simple answer is “Why not?” Okay, so I’m being a smart arse. It goes with the territory, I’m a writer after all.
So why do writers write? There are many answers that come to mind, but the reason that is most true, is because writers fulfil the need of a people to keep their myths alive, to maintain the culture and history of society, of our past, for the future.
Before writing was invented there were the story tellers, often they were the shamans of the tribe. It was their job to keep the knowledge of the people safe for future generations. Things like what foods can be eaten, when to plant, how to hunt, what plants can be used for the tools of living. In short, the total knowledge of survival of the tribe. The shamans were the knowledge that even the chiefs paid heed to.
Most often the wisdom was wrapped in a story. An example of one such wisdom wrapped in a story is this email that was sent to me.
Cherokee Wisdom,
Two Wolves
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, ”My son, the battle is between two ”wolves” inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: ”Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, ”The one you feed.”
What has this to do with writers? I thought you would never ask. As writers we have immense power within our society. We are the lore keepers, the shamans of our people.
The people who govern know this to be true. They work against us, trivialise our worth, say “It’s only art” and play down anything that might reduce their control of the people.
They feed the dark side of the soul, turning writers into defiled, bent parodies of the lore keepers. These sad creatures are known as “Spin Doctors”.
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