WHY WRITE?

By Sharon May

I see writers on Facebook ask why we decided to write. Most answers are meant to be humorous. Serious responses tend to be cryptic statements about muses and speaking one’s truth. So what makes us get on the creative rollercoaster we call writing?

Many writers are motivated by money as some are trying to supplement their incomes, others want to make a living, and others expect a fortune from publishing and marketing their writing.

I guess most can successfully pad their bank accounts. I made several thousand for several years after publishing with four other authors a Freshman composition textbook. For those who need to make a living or a fortune, I commend you since there are much easier and reliable ways to make money. I think we determined that “our hourly wage” for the textbook was less than a dollar.

Fame or at least a stroke of the ego in having their work published motivates some of us. I admit there is a thrill and a sense of accomplishment when seeing our name on a book cover. How much fame writers have is severely limited by a society that doesn’t truly value Art. That printed book or internet post may exist long after we are dead, and posthumous recognition can still come. Don’t know if dead authors can know that kind of fame.

External rewards, like fame and fortune, might be earned, but most of us must write for more intrinsic reasons. Do we awaken one day and say “I’m going to be a writer”? Maybe, but more than likely, we toss the idea around as we read books that spark a drive to create a book of our own. We desire to see if we can sustain that drive to finish something bigger than we are.

The love of playing with words motivates many of us. Amy Tan claims she can spend hours working with a single word or sentence to make the best choice she can. One the other hand, we love when the words come easily, like manna from heaven, as we sit for hours without awareness of the world around us. The feeling of satisfaction comes from our struggles and our triumphs in trying to create meaning out of the words we choose.

Writing can be a calling, either from one’s own soul or from an external creator or muse. This calling can be tough to fulfill as we try to find the time in our lives to write while we finish educations, hold down jobs, care for family. But once we make time for writing, the act and process can bring joy.

I am motivated by all these reasons, but let’s not forget that writing is fun. Yes, that task that haunts us, that consumes our time and energy, is fun. We play while escaping or revealing the world we inhabit. Fun is the immediate gratification. Enjoy it because the other goals may not appear for years, if at all.