Why Write? Because I Love Exploration

Exploration fascinates me. Although I can admit that the end results of European exploration driven by human greed and lust for power have been gross, there is still something in me that loves the idea of going somewhere no one has been and seeing something for the first time. To document something no one knew about before would be such a thrill! It’s why I’m drawn to large, open-world video games and classic adventure stories in the vein of Journey to the Center of the Earth or the Indiana Jones movies.

For better or worse, there’s not a whole lot left on earth that hasn’t been explored. You have the depths of the ocean and the farthest reaching recesses of cave systems. Everything else has pretty much been found and mapped. An article I found suggesting otherwise contained a list of supposedly unexplored places complete with photographs and stats about the landmarks there, which tells me that their definition of “unexplored” is more along the lines of “off-limits to randos.”

Writing opens a loophole. 

Writing allows you to explore new places

By writing, you can uncover and explore places that didn’t even exist until you dreamt them up. Writers get the privilege of planting their flags into the fertile soil of whatever continent or planet they choose and then slowly unraveling the history of that new place as they push further into it. And it doesn’t require a billion dollar space program or any specialized, expensive equipment.

With just paper and a pen (or, if you’re like me and prone to spelling mistakes, a pencil and eraser) you can conjure new worlds or fold hidden places into this one. You, as the writer of a world, decide what the map looks like and what, if anything, is beyond the maps’ borders. But even when your setting is the small town in which you were raised and where everyone seems to know everything about everyone else, there is still much for a writer to explore. 

Writing allows you to explore new people

Writing offers unique opportunities to examine humanity. Writing provides an opportunity to see what people might do in situations they couldn’t have prepared for. Writing allows the exploration of our thoughts and emotions through experiments that can be wild, shocking, grotesque, and also compassionate, gentle, safe. Writing is a way to ask and even answer any questions we can devise. 

What would it take to break a normal person and send them spiraling on a path of villainy? What could protect the noble heroine from that fate? 

From where does the awkward, shy protagonist get the courage to finally stand up for himself? 

What makes a person desirable? What traits freeze desire in its tracks? 

At what point did the leader really succumb to corruption? How does he justify his actions to himself when looking in the mirror?

These questions may not have clear cut answers, but as a writer, you can guide the outcomes of your stories to explore what makes us, as people, tick. But first you must know what makes you tick.

Writing allows you to explore yourself

To write complex and relatable characters, you must find what makes you complex and relatable and understand yourself. Excavate your own mind and discover the parts of yourself you try to avoid or keep hidden. As you discover your voice and grow more comfortable asserting it in your writing, you’ll notice patterns that can help you understand yourself. 

For example, my fiction rarely ends on a sad note. I usually find myself working in some glimmer of hope, even if it’s rather small. This reflects my earnest belief that someday, the world will be overwhelmed by good in such a way that sadness and pain are done away with.

On the other hand, I have a bad habit of writing characters who passively wait around until something good happens to them. This has helped me clarify my own struggles with passivity and pride, which lead me to hope for good things, believing that I deserve them, without taking as many active steps as I should to make those things happen.

To know yourself is a terrifying and wonderful journey meant just for you. It’s an expedition only you can embark on. You can invite others to come with you, or you can forge a path and clear the way first. Some of what you find will delight you, and some of it will probably disturb you.

But at the other end, your writing will benefit.