The OCD of Writing

In the traditional sense, OCD is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  I am sure many of us have it to some degree.  However, what it entails is something that a psychologist can indicate.  I am not a psychologist and this blog is not about the traditional OCD.  My OCD is a writer’s OCD: Obsessive, Collective, and Devouring. 

Obsessive:   Reading and writing is an obsession that haunts me.  Every time I read a book, it takes me to places that I never knew existed.  It’s an alternate universe created by the imaginative mind of the author.  Every time I write anything, I let people delve into the world that I have created. 

Collective:   If I did nothing all day, I would have nothing to say.  Imagine reading and writing about nothing.  At some point, there would be nothing to write about!  Writing is an art.  It’s an art that necessitates exploration.  Without the collective spirit of a group of friends, colleagues, or even the people in line at a local coffee shop, the exchange of ideas would stall.   Personal growth needs the collective union of people and experiences. 

Devouring:  Once I found my love for reading, it consumed me.  Reading and writing devours a person’s time.  Without it, there becomes a void.  At some point, it doesn’t matter what is read as long as it is something unique, something educational, something fictional, something that is anything interesting for me to read.

Obsessive, Collective, Devouring… that is my writer’s OCD.