Why I Write: Writing Has Made Me More Observant And Sensitive

Writing has been a loyal companion since my childhood. But why do I write? I wish I had one answer. There must be at least a hundred reasons why this art appeals to me. Most importantly, I love writing because it makes me happy. The days I don’t write, I feel unproductive. I find the entire writing process delightful, regardless of what I am writing. There’s a certain enjoyment in satiating your creative cravings with writing. As my favourite author Paulo Coelho says, “I write to empty my mind and to fill my heart.”

When I was a kid, my mother used to make text-books interesting by teaching me through stories from life. I guess that’s how I became fascinated with creating my own stories. There was so much to explore, discuss, and share. In my excitement to tell stories, I was worried that I would forget the ideas if I didn’t write them down. That’s how I started writing. It began as a need to share my stories. I still love spending time in my imaginary world. I have so many stories to tell that I hope I can write them all before I die! Writers are big-time procrastinators. But the good bit is that they can write about procrastination and resistance also.

I find the entire writing process delightful, regardless of what I am writing. There’s a certain enjoyment in satiating your creative cravings with writing.

In my college days, I used to daydream a lot. When in my senses, I would make a note of those dreams and carefree thoughts. Expressing myself through the written word was as invigorating as it was liberating. In the late 90s, there were no blogs. So, I wrote in diaries, notebooks, and scented letter-writing pads.

Though writing was a habit, my career goal was to become an Indian Police Service officer. My biggest setback was when I failed to clear the civil service examinations twice in a row! I blamed everything around me and was disillusioned about what to do in life! To give vent to my frustration and to nurse my bruises, I wrote in detail about this setback in my diary – how I had started preparing, how I juggled studying for the exam along with my postgraduation, etc. When I read and re-read what I had written, I realized that I hadn’t given my hundred percent to civil services. It is tough to accept failure, but writing about it helped me stay grounded.

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When I began my professional writing career as a content writer, the pay was peanuts but the job satisfaction was like hitting a jackpot. The job profile was dynamic, which meant that I worked on everything from web-content writing and book-reviews to writing press releases, ad-copy, marketing collateral, and more. Over the next fifteen years, I explored different forms of writing in the Information Technology industry and managed big fat teams who specialised in writing and editing technical documents, proposals, newsletters, corporate stories, communication bulletins, etc. I discovered that I loved writing in any form.

Writing doesn’t only help me create multi-dimensional characters, it helps those characters interact with one another and build a world of their own. Writing keeps me sane, even if my characters go crazy.

That same passion and ardent love for the written word made me a novelist. Now, I write because I can be so many things and be at so many places through my characters. I enjoy investigating murder cases in my books with private detective Mili Ray. Writing enables me to deep-dive into the mind of a criminal as well as a detective and empathise with them both. I can romance the people I want and also kill those I wish to. Writing doesn’t only help me create multi-dimensional characters, it helps those characters interact with one another and build a world of their own. Writing keeps me sane, even if my characters go crazy.

Now that I am working on screenplays too, it’s gratifying to see the characters I’ve created come alive on screen!

One of the best advices I ever received on writing, was this: You are not one in a million. There are many people in this world who think like you. They will read and appreciate your work. Therefore, always write for yourself. Conviction in your work is all that matters. Writing has made me more observant, tolerant, and sensitive. It is an integral part of my life.

Moitrayee Bhaduri is a content specialist, screenwriter, and author of two crime thrillers: The Sinister Silence (2015) and  Who Killed the Murderer? (2019). She lives in Kolkata. The views expressed are the author's own.