Because to create is human. Because to create is Godlike. Because I hated the idea of having a job. To say a new word. To make a new thing. To create a national consciousness, or a national conscience. To justify my failures in school. To justify my own view of myself and my life, because I couldn't be "a writer" unless I actually did some writing. To make myself appear more interesting than I actually was.

To attract the love of a beautiful woman. To attract the love of a beautiful man. To rectify the imperfections of my miserable childhood. To thwart my parents. To spin a fascinating tale. To amuse and please the reader. To amuse and please myself. To pass the time, even though it would have passed anyway.

Graphomania. Compulsive logorrhea. Because I was driven to it by some force outside my control. Because I was possessed. Because I fell into the embrace of the Muse. Because I got pregnant by the Muse and needed to give birth. Because I had books instead of children (several twentieth-century women). To serve Art. To serve the Collective Unconscious. To serve History. To act out antisocial behavior for which I have been punished in real life. To master a craft.

To subvert the establishment. To deomonstrate that whatever is, is right. Because the story took hold of me and wouldn't let go. To search for understanding of the reader and myself. To cope with my depression. For my children. To make a name that would deserve to surivie death.

To defend a minority group or oppressed class. To speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. To expose the applaing wrongs and attrocities. To record the times through which I have lived. To speak for the Dead. To celebrate Life. To praise the Universe. To allow for the possibility of hope and redemption. To give back someting of what has been given to me."