Why We Do It, Why We Write

By Anthony Buccino


We write because we have to, it is in our blood and gut. We write because someone pays us to do something we love.

The 17-hour days are mind-boggling and eclectic, yet flexible. Someone is always grousing about how this should have been, or that should have been done some other way — such are editors, readers and the people we write about.

Why do we do it, why do we write? Why put up with the long hours and the brain-drain? It isn't for the money. Prestige? Guess again. Some call it the Peter Pan Syndrome — we're always so eager to fly off to a new adventure.

We write to alert, amaze and inform. We write to make 'em learn, yearn and wonder about how things that are can be, if not better, then different.

From the boot camps of weekly newspapers to the war zones of dailies to the country clubs of monthlies, we write to make a difference to the prom queen, policeman and politician. We write to make 'em think, even if they don't want to.

We write to inform, to make 'em better or bitter, and at least a little more knowing. We write for the reader, to show them what has become of the world we live in, the things that can be changed, the things that should be changed and the things that never will change.

Rambling Round by Anthony BuccinoFrom the ancient cave walls to the skywriters shaping clouds to the graffiti artists' coded messages to our hand-scrawled notes, we tell the story of man and mankind to the here and now and for the future as well. We take these shadows on this tiny screen and turn them into ink stains that mean much to many, or nothing to few. But we write.

Each time we sit at a keyboard and 'open our vein,' we strive to reach the top of our craft, to define perfection in every word, to learn from our craft, for our best writing is right now. Until tomorrow, when it gets better than it has ever been. And the constant in our craft is that each day is different, and the challenges are a varied but valiant foe. Through our words we fly into the flailing fray. We make a point. We tell a tale. We tell the world of our readers and the readers of our world. That's our job. That's what we do.

We write to make our editor happy. We write for ourselves. We write because we have to, it is in our blood and gut. We write because someone pays us to do something we love. And except for that big shovel we sometimes have to hoist, there's no heavy lifting. We would have it no other way.

That's why we do it.

That's why we write.


This originally appeared in Behind The Lines, Spring 1998, a publication of the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

© 1998 by Anthony Buccino

Adapted from

RAMBLING ROUND  Inside and Outside at the Same Time


Greetings-from-Belleville-NJ-Collected writings by Anthony Buccino

Greetings From Belleville NJ


Cherry Blossom Press

Nonfiction books by Anthony Buccino

A Father's Place - An Eclectic Collection

Sister Dressed Me Funny

Rambling Round - Inside and Outside at the Same Time

Retrieving Labrador Days dog tales in prose and verse

Greetings From Belleville, New Jersey collected writings

This Seat Taken? Notes of a Hapless Commuter

Nutley Notables, Volume One

Nutley Notables, Volume Two


Military History

Military History books by Anthony Buccino

Belleville and Nutley in the Civil War

 Belleville Sons Honor Roll - Remembering the Men Who Paid for Our Freedom

Nutley Sons Honor Roll - Remembering the Men Who Paid for Our Freedom

WW2 Letters Home From The South Pacific


Photography

New Orleans, New York, Jersey City, Nutley photo collections by Anthony Buccino

Photo Books

Gas Stations

Harrison Next 

In Our Old Kitchen

Jersey City Snapshots

New Orleans In Plain View

New York City Snapshots

Nutley Snapshots in Plain View

Old Spices

Photo Galleries


Nutley, NJ, Books

Belleville and Nutley in the Civil War 

Martha Stewart Doesn't Live Here Anymore and other essays

Nutley Notables - Volume One

Nutley Notables Volume Two

Nutley Snapshots In Plain View

Nutley Sons Honor Roll - Remembering the Men Who Paid for Our Freedom

WW2 Letters Home From The South Pacific

Yountakah Country - Nutley Old and New


Belleville, NJ, Books

Belleville NJ books by Anthony Buccino

A Father's Place - An Eclectic Collection

Belleville and Nutley in the Civil War

 Belleville Sons Honor Roll - Remembering the Men Who Paid for Our Freedom

Greetings from Belleville, New Jersey, Collected writings

Rambling Round - Inside and Outside at the Same Time

Sister Dressed Me Funny

WW2 Letters Home From The South Pacific


Poetry Collections

Eight Poetry Collections by Anthony Buccino

American Boy: Pushing Sixty 

Canned

One Morning in Jersey City

Retrieving Labrador Days

Sixteen Inches On Center

Sometimes I Swear In Italian

Voices on the Bus

Yountakah Country

Shop Amazon Most Wished For Items

Support this site when you buy through our Amazon link.