The reason for writing

Every person will have a different reason why they feel the need to write or create something. That is only natural, but something that we must seriously think and reflect about. I remember when I was about five years old I started making my own stories and shows. I didn't write them, I'm not even sure I could write at that age (I very stubbornly refused to learn to read and write until very very late much to my parents' frustration, anger and despair) but I could talk incessantly and my imagination needed an outlet. 

We didn't have a video or film camera but we had something equally as exciting for me. To this day, I have no idea why my father would have a Nagra audio recording device at home, I must remember to ask him, but the Nagra and I became inseparable. I interviewed people, I created scenes and radio serials with my friends. I created comedy gags with myself doing several different voices. I felt free to express whatever I wanted and I became addicted to that feeling.

I don't have a picture of the one we had but it looked similar to this

Once I learned how to read and write my parents got concerned because I spent all day reading. My friends would ask me to go out and play and I would quite bluntly say "No, I'm reading a book. Thanks!" 

The story that I always remember was about a thief sent by the king to a dragon's lair to recover something the dragon had stolen. Of course, there was a princess somewhere in the story too, but I don't remember how the story went. Sadly, I lost the story long ago. 

During those early years, I created stories simply because it was fun and because it allowed me to enter other worlds but things changed in my early teens. It was the age of turbulence in my life. I was bad at sports, especially at the sports that the boys played (football - or as uncivilised people call it "soccer"- and basketball). I much preferred to read and write. That made me a target. With my confidence crushed and feeling like I didn't belong I turned to writing as a form of expressing my inner storm. The writings turned more visceral and darker.

If I used to write and create for fun in my childhood, in my teens it was a way to release my anger, my frustration and inner turmoil. Creation became my own therapy. 

As I finished high school I entered a Film and TV course. Writing has always been a constant, still is, but I also started to think of movies. The movies allowed me to mix the fun of my early creative days with the more introspective tones of my teens. Making films is hard work but is fun and I love the feeling of creating a story together with the whole crew. There's nothing like a film set full of positive vibes.

In my mid-twenties, my views on the creative process and the creation of art evolved once more. I was reading a book by Alejandro Jodorowsky where he spoke about the purpose of art being to 'heal'. I realised that my creations could not and should not just serve to 'heal' me, but also to 'heal' others. Of course, the word 'heal', is used loosely. Only Jodorowsky knows exactly what he meant, but I take his words to mean that the purpose of creating art should be positive and constructive. 

Now, when I write, I always think about what I'm trying to say and why I'm actually doing that. Some stories may be written for pure entertainment but that doesn't mean that we can't think and reflect on what it's actually saying and how it will affect people.