Why I Write: Questions

I have to re-read MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD by Francisco X Stork for a retreat assignment. (Happy, happy, it was one of the best things I read last year.) Near the end of the book, Marcelo has a conversation with the rabbi, and it got me to wondering if Francisco X Stork believes the things the rabbi says. Which turned into wondering what people would think I believe if they read my WIP. It's about censorship, and while the MC goes hardline against it, I do support some censorship. For example movie ratings are a form of censorship that I, and many others, support.

And then I thought about critiques I've seen of YA authors in the past years. Sometimes critics do equate a person's fiction with their beliefs. But I don't always believe the conclusions my characters draw. In fact, as I've mentioned, my opinion is middle-of-the-road and I would make a wet sock of a character.

I came to realise during this line of thinking, that sometimes, I don't write because I have an answer, but because I have a question. My last WIP deals with what it's like being friends with a bi-polar person (for real, not the Hollywood/Charlie Sheen version). It doesn't present every possible thing that could go wrong, or right, for that matter. But it opens the door to questions. What are bi-polar people like? What's it like having one close? What's going through their minds?

I'm wishy-washy. I am not resolute about many things. And my work is a way for me to explore all those questions that I have. Questions about parts of me. About my beliefs. About the thins that happen to those around me. About things I see on the news. Many people often have hardline beliefs that they've been brought up with or taught by society or read somewhere and adopted. I hope that my work can open these questions for those people - the type of people who didn't even realise there was a question.

I can't remember every mentioning it before, and last night when I thought it, it felt new. So here's one more reason why I write: because I have more questions than answers.