Catherine Woodward Scott

Why Catherine Woodward Scott Writes

I write because it helps me identify the deep questions of life. And my life. Those can be very different.

I write because Barbara Kingsolver, Louise Erdrich, Joanne Greenberg, John Steinbeck, Annie Dillard, and Mary Oliver among hundreds of fine poets and authors inspire and delight me. They’ve set a high bar that is compelling, daring me to have a go at it. They hold a lamp in my darkness, they demoralize me utterly when my critic screams out “Unworthy! How dare you.”

Writing is soul work. Maybe you can relate to “the itches you can’t scratch,” the something that tugs at the heartstrings, so deep and compelling. One needs to go in after it. Tame the damn beast. But the whole time I’m searching for That Thing, the ego is having a field day, telling me how hopeless this is, what a loser I am.

Writing teaches me my mind’s wiles and forces me to continue like Sisyphus, to not quit on this piece nor on myself, no matter what.

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