Writing for Good

You know that "trick" where you cover a quarter with a piece of paper and use your pencil to shade over the paper until you have an engraving of the quarter? You start with a blank piece of paper and before you know it, a quarter reveals itself to you in a thicket of smeared graphite.

That's what writing (especially blogging) feels like for me. I say that I like to write/blog, but it feels more like a story or piece is already there, nearly living and breathing; I am a mere instrument that scratches graphite back and forth until its finally revealed.

However, I do not want to understate the feeling of uncovering a piece by equating it to creating a worthless facsimile of US tender. On the contrary, when a piece needs to be written, it needs to be written. It nags at me and impatiently sits at the fore of my brain and the tips of my fingers until it's let out to breathe and live independently.

This is why writing is so much a part of me -- I'm a a slave to it; I am possessed; I have no choice in the matter.

This being the case, I want to do something good with it. Rather than scream meaningless words that will only be carried away in the wind, I want my words to do the moving. I want to find a way to make them move others to tears, move others into action, move others to think critically about themselves, and move others to do good.