Writing Reasons: Aesthetic, Political, Historical Essay

March 10, 2022 by Essay Writer

Introduction

It is notable that just like artists, singers, painters, and sculptors get motivated with whatever they do; writers have myriad sources of inspiration that make them write (McKibben par 1). As far as it may seem rhetoric, there are numerous reasons why writers write.

For instance, research has revealed that writing is a personal experience similar to any other activity. In other words, aesthetic enthusiasm is an important component that attempts to explain why writers write. The latter values the beauty that goes with writing since it brings out a lot of enthusiasm in the career and daily life of a writer. It is imperative to note that writers use writing as a tool for expressing their thoughts and deep sited opinions to other people (McKibben par 3). By so doing, they elicit deep feelings that are shared by both the writer and the target audience.

Secondly, the needed to generate historical impulse is indeed a profound reason why writers engage in writing. Needless to say, writers address myriads of issues including theories, academic issues, and facts that touch on various experiences in life. For instance, in the article entitled “Why I Write” by George Orwell, the author explains certain aspects attached to his life ever since the time he was young (Orwell par 1). It is imperative to note that this article appears to be argumentative and political as well bearing in mind that the author attempts to explain different concerns about life. Also, writers do write to achieve political purpose through the various types of literary works which they produce.

While the aforementioned are indeed profound reasons that explain why writers write, it is also worth to mention that sheer egoism is yet another driving force towards writing. Additionally, writing can also be used to define a theme. For instance, in the article entitled On Not Living Too Large: A place that makes sense by McKibben, the author has used the piece of writing to demonstrate the real implication of nature in life. It is against this backdrop that this paper explores some of the main reasons why writers write. These have been summarized in terms of aesthetic enthusiasm, political purpose, historical impulse, and to some extent, sheer egoism.

Orwell, George. why I write.

The author of this article is quite categorical on some of the reasons which have compelled him to engage in writing. From this article, it is apparent that the author desired to become a writer after growing up. However, he decided to drop this interest at the age of 17 years (Orwell par 1).

This explains the sheer egoism which the writer had from the early beginning. It is interesting t note that writers are usually compelled by certain personal egos even as they entrench themselves in the field of writing. In other words, there is usually a silent drive that tends to push potential writers to display their inner thoughts on paper with the sole reason for reaching out to the target audience. Despite this internal and compelling sheer egoism, he did not know that he was running away from the true reality until at the age of 24 years when he began to write.

Aesthetic enthusiasm has also been noted in the article as one of the reasons why the writer decided to write. The author notes that right from his childhood age, he had developed a habit of telling stories to imaginary audiences, and little did he know that sooner or later he would develop a strong literary ambition. Indeed, he derived a lot of personal satisfaction in the beauty of telling stories to his audience.

As much as his audience may have been small by that time, he remained enthusiastic that whatever he was doing was the best for him irrespective of the unknown future in his prospect of writing. In line with this, the author felt that he had an adequate store of words in addition to the fact that he had the might to express unpleasant feelings and facts that faced his private life by writing them down. This was realized when he wrote his first poem about a tiger even though it was full of plagiarism (Orwell par 1).

Later on, he developed a passion to write poems on nature using the Georgian style. Additionally, he engaged himself in more serious literal activities though he did not have much pleasure in them (Orwell par 2).

At this juncture, one can analyze that the reason why writers write is the fact that they enjoy being artistic with words and language, and which has also been explained by aesthetic enthusiasm that was demonstrated by the writer throughout his life as a literary artist (Orwell par 1). In this case, they end up developing sheer egoism, a factor that allows their experience to be remembered by the readers. Besides, it is also evident that this kind of passion to express feelings through words is a major driving force for most writers who engage in writing especially at the elementary level.

The power to relate historical events with current occurrences is indeed an invaluable skill that talented writers enjoy. I the case of Orwell, he managed to produced dozens of literary works that touched on the existence and nature of mankind through poetry and short stories. Notably, the author developed more pleasure since it was easier for him to produce made-to-order stuff such as short stories and rhyming poems. He could produce literary works of different genres such as stories about himself that demonstrated imaginations that occurred in his mind. This is evident as the author notes that “…I used to imagine that I was, say, Robin Hood, and picture myself as the hero of thrilling adventure…” (Orwell par 2).

The latter depicts a strong historical setting that the writer recalled of its significance in his writing career. At this juncture, one can argue that writers use writing as a way of expressing past events and as a result, generate historical impulses that are much needed by the forthcoming generations. This category of purpose in writing is by far and large, therapeutic at times especially in the due process of writing and in the minds of writers. In this case, one can analyze that the author of this article used words to express unpleasant feelings and facts about his private life which undoubtedly, brought a lot of satisfaction. For instance, he notes that “I knew that I had a facility with words and a power of facing unpleasant facts…” (Orwell par 3).

It is imperative to note that writers have a passion for using words to express thoughts, feelings, opinions, and facts about life. In this case, they use creativity to outline and expose their ideas to the audience. For instance, in this article, the author notes that “…but quite soon my ‘story’ ceased to be narcissistic in a crude way and became more and more a mere description of what I was doing and the things I saw” (Orwell par 3). Notably, authors develop anesthetic enthusiasm where they use words and language to express the beauty of their perception of the outer world.

Needless to say, just like there are numerous types of scientists, artists, and engineers, the same case applies to writers. In line with this, some are poets, narrators, and fiction writers. For instance, the author notes that “…the ‘story’ must, I suppose, have reflected the styles of the various writers I admired at different ages…” (Orwell par 2). Therefore, it is arguable that what motivates most writers to write depends on what inspires each one of them. Therefore, it is definite that the cause for motivation may vary from one individual to another although the overall effect is the same. For instance, poets are inspired by perception, writing, and rhyme while fiction writers are inspired by exciting adventures. These are diverse sources of motivation that are equally instrumental in the writing occupation of these different types of writers.

The need to attain political purpose in a piece of writing has been a common trend among many writers who intend to pass specific messages to the target audience. Needless to say, politics is an integral aspect of the governance and overall well being of society. In most cases, writers use literal works to develop a political impulse and tend to shape the public mind with their individual opinions. This is evident in the article where the author notes that “Once again, no book is genuinely free from political bias. The opinion that art should have nothing to do with politics is in itself a political attitude” (Orwell par 4). From this perspective, it is evident that there are myriad of political elements in most forms of writing that touch on issues affecting society.

Additionally, it is quite definite from the article that different writers use various writing styles to write due pleasure or joy since they eventually aim at triggering a political impulse here and there. For instance, the author notes that “…do not now seem to me so very wonderful, sent shivers down my backbone; and the spelling ‘hee’ for ‘he’ was an added pleasure” (Orwell par 1). Other than pleasure, some write for fame and others for the sole purpose of developing their talents.

McKibben, Bill. On Not Living Too Large: A place that makes sense

From the content of this article, it is evident that writing is indeed an important aspect of developing themes and defining nature. In this essay, it is evident that writers have specific aspects in life that motivate or fascinate them before and during the entire process of writing (McKibben 2). As compared to the first article, it is quite evident that writers engage in writing for various reasons. Although this article des does not explicitly explain the reasons for writing, the message being passed across tells it all.

In this case, it can be noted that writing is used to share the diverse experiences of writers to the target audience and as a result, the element of sheer egoism is brought out. Besides, writers will share their inner experiences with whom they feel are equally interested. Moreover, writers use writing as a way of appreciating and demonstrating observable facts about nature. In this case, they get an opportunity to share observable experiences and facts about nature. This is evident as the author notes that “What you see now is a modern reconstruction, modern meaning 12th century. In other words, it is part of the landscape” (McKibben par 1).

Writers are often compelled to write especially when they realize that their target audiences are interested in certain aspects of nature. For instance, some people enjoy reading about other people’s adventures and experiences. In this case, writers seize this opportunity to entertain such people through literary works. For instance, in the article, the author points out that “…I think, to figure out why this Tuscan landscape is so appealing to so many” (McKibben par 2).

Just like in the article “Why I Write” by George Orwell, it is apparent that McKibben is inspired to write due to passion. In this case, he takes it as a passion to write, a factor that allows him to express his emotions and feeling about nature. To some extent, writers write to create a historical impulse in their audience’s mind. For instance, writers use literal works to describe facts that happened in the past and use them for posterity as part and parcel of conveying a particular message. This is evident in the article when the author notes that “It was there by the ninth century. What you see now is a modern reconstruction, modern meaning 12th century” (McKibben par 2).

Notably, there are more reasons than the ones identified above that can be used to explain why writers write. Nevertheless, it is imperative to point out that the article “Why I write” largely categorizes these reasons to be political, historical, egoistic, and aesthetic. Contrastingly, the article “A place that makes sense” does not outline the reasons clearly. In this case, the author of this article does not follow the format of the article “Why I write’. Notably, the difference could result due to the different approaches used by the authors to write their articles.

To recap it all, evidence from the summarized articles have indicated that there are numerous reasons why writers write. In this case, such reasons can be grouped into four major categories namely political, historical, egoistic, and aesthetic reasons. In this case, writers use literal works to achieve several goals such as developing talents, passion, inspiring, expression of thoughts, and personal opinions.

Moreover, writing is an essential way through which writers have an open podium to share their personal experiences, profound theories, and complex academic issues. In this case, contemplating reasons why writers write requires one to consider broad genres of writings if possible. This is because there are numerous types of writers such as poets and fiction writers who have diverse causes of motivation in their world of writing.