Why we write

To keep sane.

Because, if we let the thoughts that are dancing in our head have dinner and then reproduce, you know what's going to happen. Baby thoughts, teenage thoughts, pregnant thoughts, along with adult thoughts. Overpopulation. A large thought family. A recipe for craziness.

All these thoughts because I was reading Ray Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing last night. Bradbury's a genius. I've never read Farenheit 451 (I intend to, it's just not the right time yet) or any of his other books, but I can picture the kind of writing he produces. His writing is electrifying--it shocks you. Tolerable, pleasurable shocks.

In the introduction, Bradbury talks about writers need to write to keep reality from driving them crazy. You know what he's talking about if you've ever written something that was honest, when you wrote from your heart, letting the words pour out of you. Maybe some blood and tears flowed as well. You know how you felt when you wrote it and how you felt after you wrote it.

Glimpses of sanity, in an otherwise insane world.