We become writers for any number of reasons
20 January 2013
“We become writers for any number of reasons, some of them out in the open, others covert. To validate ourselves, surely. To show our inner selves to the world while maintaining a discreet distance. To win respect. To touch people’s lives.
Underlying all of this is a purely artistic motive that generally impels us. We seek the sheer joy that comes of doing that which has not been done before. And once we’ve done it, and done it to our satisfaction, it’s time to do something else new.”
Posted by Bridget McKenna
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I’ve always written because it’s one of the few things I have any talent at. I started self-publishing because I’ve been unemployed for awhile and it’s a way to take back some measure of control.
I’ve always written because it’s one of the few things I have any talent at.
Probably why many writers get suckered into the notoriously bad publishing contracts. We need validation that we are good at something that has commercial value.
Newbie writer: You actually think my book is good?
Publisher: Yeah, sure. Of course. Now sign this contract & we’ll validate your talent so everyone will know it. Just don’t spend too long reading the contract.
One of the reasons I didn’t really exert myself until I could do it myself. Don’t get me wrong. I wish I’d started sooner — I wish I’d been submitting to magazines and publishing houses for years, to build up a name.
I wish I’d started self-publishing in 2009-2010 when it first became feasible.
No regrets.
This sums things up nicely. Great quote.
I became a writer for a simple reason – I had to. Not as in “I had to or someone would disembowel me,” but because the stories inside me would cause spontaneous combustion if I didn’t let them out, and I have no desire to burn.
Great quote! I want all of those things – but especially, I want to touch people’s lives.
I see so much suffering. In my small way, I want to help make the world a better place. If I can….
I can relate. It’s a weird calling in that way.
One of my friends said it best..she said that “once you are wired to think like a writer, you really can’t turn it off.” Of course she also said it could be torturous in that way, because it opens you up in a way that is really only good for writing. It makes you more empathetic and sensitive to what other people are going through. In many other jobs being that empathetic can be an asset, but after a while you really have to turn it off in order to just get along in life and not be wounded by every injustice and every sad thing you see and hear.
It’s not unlike being a lawyer or a therapist (or, I would imagine, a doctor.) The same thing happens. Once you learn this mindset that other people just don’t have, because they don’t need it, it’s very hard to get outside it again.
Thanks, guys, actually, I could be wrong, but I think it’s the reverse.
I think we’re born with it, it’s who we are. We’re born with a certain type of empathy, an ability to understand how the other person thinks and feels, to sympathize with them, and get into their mindset. That’s why we can write good characters. It also drives our writing – makes us want to use our writing to help people, because we can see that they suffer, just like us.
Turning it off – now that’s a really hard one! I’ve really struggled with that too!
I became a writer because of …well the same thing Michael Coorlim said really. It’s the only thing I’ve felt good doing. It’s the thing I’ve been most consistently praised for doing well. There are a few other things I am moderately good at doing, but nothing else makes me feel as happy or fulfilled. Most things I’ve tried tend to bore me after a short while.
I think many writers have similar reasons for becoming writers. I think that’s also why a lot of writers end up depressed. They feel that writing is all they’re really qualified to do. But most of us probably also know that if we were to settle into some other job and forget about writing, if we even could forget about it, we’d never be satisfied either.
Writing really is the best and the worst career…
Why do I write?
I write for the simple reason that my introvert brain doesn’t come with an off switch. If I didn’t periodically empty my brain onto the page it would simply fill until the ideas, characters, storylines and McGuffins, combined with the ever increasing outside noise, resulted in a catastrophic overflow.
Then I would be in the market for a white I-love-me jacket with extra long sleeves.
This
Cruiser: I became a writer so as I wouldn’t get drafted into the Army and hafta go fight in no Eye-rack.
Sergeant “Big Toe” Hulka: Son, there ain’t no draft no more.
Cruiser: You mean I learnt all that grammer fer nuthin’? That lit’ry agency recruiter done lied to me!