Why I Write

Why do we write? It is the journey into the unknown, but one of our own making. Characters, situations, even cities, countries and outer space, are there for the making. The experience of wondering what the characters will do and say becomes the reason for turning on the computer. These characters take up residence in our heads - are with us before we go to sleep and there when we wake up. It is, we hope, the joy of taking others with us on this journey that keeps us going.

Who We Are; Why We're Here.

Welcome to Quill and Coffee. This is our blog.

In 2006, upon completion of Susan Breen's Fiction class at Gotham Writer's Workshop, four classmates banded together with a commitment to carry on the writers' community the class had sparked. Trust, so essential to such an undertaking, was already established; works were submitted, exchanged, and critiqued.

Words flowed.

New members joined. Some left. We have changed meeting locations, times, and frequency, yet the group has met regularly since those first days. Today we number seven in-person and eight online.

We hail from the midwest, the south, the east coast, and right here in Manhattan.

We are Gen Y and Gen X, Baby Boomers, and survivor of The Great Depression.

We have children, step children, foster children, grandchildren, and no children.

We are managers, tech writers, editors and stagehands; former political and fashion insiders, therapists and homeless shelter directors.

We are teachers and students.

We are black and white and read all over.

We are dog people and cat people.

We are people who ordinarily might not mix, save for one reason: We write.

We write children's books and stories for young adults, women's fiction, chicklit, suspense, fantasy, sci-fi, and things we can't quite define. We blog.

We write for pleasure and to lay pain flat on the page. We write to tell the story that will not be silenced. We write seeking truth and we write spinning lies. We write to find reality through fantasy. We write to stay sane. We write to record history. We write to fill in the blanks. We write because we are drawn to lighted windows and people talking in cars, and wonder what is happening in those homes and what the people in the cars are saying and because we don't know, we make it up. We write in search of that elusive writer's high when the words just flow. We write to entertain, to make people laugh. We write, because it's what we do.

We've laid out some questions for our group and presented ourselves with the challenge of answering them here in hopes of spurring discussion and insights. We're glad you're here.

Why do you write?