This is a question that every good writer should ask themselves every so often, so as to keep things in perspective for themselves and their audience. If you can’t come up with a reason, then don’t write. Get a job selling shoes or do volunteer work. Or get a job doling out ice cream cones. Far better that you should spend your time in a mundane job than writing drivel, which is what comes forth when you are just throwing words onto a page, in hopes that someone will read them. I guess everyone has a reason or they wouldn’t write at all. But I contend that the writing will be far better if you know why you are putting pen to paper, or these days, the tips of fingers to keyboard.

I have now set myself up. I must now say why I write. I write because I feel compelled to pass on something very important about the subject at hand. And this is also why I revise and copyedit my work. This answer is the big picture. The smaller picture is in relation to the subject matter. I write because I have something important to say (for instance) about horse communication. I write because I have something important to say (for instance) about recycling. I write because I have something important to say about the writing life. The list is long and growing longer.

Today – this morning, worked on my recycling eBook, putting the chapters in order and writing down questions for specific people. This afternoon I went to a post Alaska State Fair party – and set up times for interviewing those who coordinated recycling efforts and also were volunteers.

After, I went for a ride on Raudi and ponied Tinni. Both did amazingly well, on a day in which the fall colors on the ground level predominated. A few times Tinni stopped, but then Raudi backed up, which enabled me to grab his line without losing my balance or falling off. There is a decided change in the way she’s now carrying herself. All this agility/posture work is now paying off big-time.

Just two examples here, but good ones. It’s important that my readers know that I’m doing something with those dispatches that I wrote during the two weeks of the fair. This is going to generate further interest in this project, and most importantly, in fair recycling. And perhaps it will give those who are wanting to toss the container they are carrying into the correct bin. Oh, let’s hope so.

The riding – those who have been following Raudi and my progress over the years will welcome the above bit of information. All good stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end – right now my interactions with Raudi are at a midway point. We are doing so well together – maybe this will alert others to the fact that it takes time and patience in building a rapport with a horse.

There you have it. Why I write. More examples every day I sit down at the computer and generate material.

Next: 250. 9/10/17: Women who Run with Horses