Why do I write?

So, why do I write and blog

I was confronted last week about why I write and why I blog.

That is a good question.  

I was listening to a video by Ted Dekker, one of my favorite authors, although I haven’t read anything by him in maybe 4 years - he needs to make audiobooks!!!  

His main comment was “A story is a series of events of worthy characters who change because of the events”.  (Now, I mostly blog, but I am writing more fiction)

He added: “I write to transform MY life.  I want True Change in my life!!”  

*****

Being honest with myself (something that we all should do, and I’m not we do it well), I write because I like to write.  To me, that statement seems ludicrous. My only “C” grades in college were in the two required Freshman English classes.  I didn’t write well - seemingly I had good ideas and poor communication skills.  My high school English teacher had tried to work with me to write better - and honestly, he did help me be a better writer..  (Otherwise, I might have gotten “D” grades in Freshman Composition!!!)

I was a Math teacher.  Math teachers teach math.  I didn’t need to write much.  Yes, I did “write”.  I could cover my blackboard with lots of writing - but most of that was symbols and numbers!!  

Then I got my Master’s Degree in Math.  There was more writing - but it was technical writing about proofs and theorems.  And, more math teaching.  Then I started teaching computing.  I still wrote a lot - but mostly code.  I did teach COBOL.  I kidded that a three-credit COBOL class was one credit of computing and two credits of English.  “Multiply Rate-of-Pay-in by Hourly-Rate giving Gross-pay” (For those of you who don’t know COBOL it was to be “self-documenting” - you should be able to look at a COBOL statement and know what was going on.  

Then (yikes), I got into a Ph.D. program at the University of Nebraska - and I had to write.  But, this writing became more conversant.  In my dissertation, the first chapter was pretty much why my research was important (and it was), and the second chapter I reviewed a lot (I’d like to think “all” but that wasn’t true - even then) - before going into my research process.  

Okay, I had to write more.  

BUT … then universities moved to the expectations of professors needed to do “research”.  The three legs of the academic stool were: teaching, research, and service.  I think I excelled in the first and the last.  And, I started to go to the ISECON conference - and (again yikes) I had to submit papers.  

When I went to Quinnipiac University, the research (and publishing) expectations really went up.  I somehow got published before of what I had done and was doing.  Then it was four published papers in six years; then four published papers in reputable, academic journals in six years.  

I have mentioned before that I would cry when something I wrote came back with the “reject” note.  But, out of the ashes of a failed paper, I would find things to improve and resubmit.

I learned how to get published papers - “cheat”!!!  (Okay, not really).  In my ISECON contacts, I had made friends - good academic friends.  And, we started to write joint papers!!  Bill Tastle and I probably had fifteen papers.  Working with Bart Longenecker and others, another fifteen papers.  Before long I was a publishing whiz (and worried that somebody would blow the whistle and say that I was a phony!!!).  

And as I taught graduate classes in Management Information Systems I had students write major term-papers and we jointly published these papers - again, maybe another twenty or so papers got into journals.  

I started blogging someplace around 2007.  It was a classroom activity.  I would write something and students were expected to add substantial comments to the post.  I also did podcasts.  By about 2012, I was blogging four or more times a week.  Sometimes it was to take an article and comment on it. (Which I still do).  Sometimes I had enough material to write for a while and sometimes I ran out of ideas.  I even did a religious blog for a while - mostly taking a Biblical small-time character and expanding their story.  It might have been like the woman taken in adultery (John 7-8).  After Jesus said “Go and sin no more”, I took up the story, she founded a home for unwed mothers, she taught ‘sex education’ if you will!!

I ‘retired’ from Quinnipiac in 2013 and moved to Texas and the (awesome) twin granddaughters.  And, I taught for three years at the University of Texas - as a “Senior Lecturer”.  I wasn’t expected to write and publish - and I did a little writing the first year - but stopped.  

I had my own “real” blog site - http://drbrucewhite.com - paid to keep it alive and decided it was too expensive for my amateur blogging work.  Facebook offered its blogging services free - plus Googles Blogger/Blogspot.  

So, we are almost up-to-date.  I like to write now.  But, back to the first ideas today. “A story is a series of events of worthy characters who change because of the events” and, “I write to transform MY life.  I want True Change in my life!!”  

Am I writing because I am retired and I need something to do (and I don’t have a television)? Am I transforming my life?  Am I making an impact on readers?  

To-be-continued tomorrow!!!

Karen