Reader question #2: My motivation to write

Every month, I publish an answer to a reader’s question. Here’s a transcript of my answer to one of the readers’ questions about my motivation to write: Hi Lisanne, what motivates you to write? What keeps you going every day?  

Curiosity is a huge thing for me. Generally, it gives me a lot of joy to discover something I didn’t know yet and then write about it. I like exploring new ideas and I love the sensation of “not knowing” because it makes me feel uncomfortable.  It gives me the idea that there is more to learn and that by learning something new each day I’m moving forward.

Therefore, writing down my ideas or asking questions can be a way to test gaps in my own knowledge. There is this saying that states that the more you learn the more you realize you don’t know a thing, which is in many ways true, I believe, and it motivates me to keep on going.

I’d say my curiosity mainly focuses on people. That’s my main thing. I’m just interested in people — I like watching them, talking to them, and hearing them out. Conversations are fun to take part in, but I also find it deeply fascinating to observe the way people move, speak, or have their conversations at an airport. Therefore, there are always things people decide to add to a conversation or intentionally leave out of a conversation, which oftentimes says a lot about the things we are ashamed of, or how the relationship has developed over the years. That’s probably why I’d like to keep telling human stories. There is no limit to the complexity of human behavior.

So when it comes to my motivation to write, besides my curiosity toward people, it’s the creative expression that is also a huge element that is inextricably linked to me. The things I’ve seen and observed, my life experiences, somehow they have to find their way to the paper. It’s a way to express myself.