Why one writes

Why one writes

‘Why one writes is a question I can answer easily, having asked it so often of myself. I believe one writes because one has to create a world in which one can live. I could not live in many of the worlds offered to me — the world of my parents, the world of war, the world of politics. I had to create a world of my own, like a climate, a country, an atmosphere in which I could breathe, reign and recreate myself when destroyed by living. That, I believe, is the reason for every work of art.’
Why one writes

(‘Israel’s Praise’ [Bruegemann] end-notes p.191, from Anais Nin ‘In Favour of Sensitive Man & Other Essays’ 1976)