Why We Write

I ORIGINALLY WROTE THIS FOR A GUEST POST AT VISIONS OF ARHYALON IN 2010. I DON'T BELIEVE I EVER SHARED IT HERE. BUT THIS IS A TOPIC CLOSE TO MY HEART, SO SHARING IT NOW. 

What Keeps You Going?

It’s funny being a part-time writer. It’s a dream. A step above hobby. A future career. But currently, it’s something that doesn’t pay the bills, only takes the time and effort. Lots and lots of effort.

If you are a paid writer, it’s your job. You know you have to write, or you may not have food on the table next month. But when you are not a paid writer, and the dream seems quite a long way away, weeks and months pass by, and the sense of urgency sometimes flails.

So what do you do to keep going?

It is the question I asked myself last week. I don’t believe in writer’s block. At least it’s never been the case for me. I don’t run out of ideas. Yet, recently I did have few weeks when I did barely any work on my editing. It could be for a number of reasons – reasons for not doing it are not important. What’s important is to remember why we do it. A few weeks away reminded me that the story did not get out of my head; my characters remained as close to me as ever, and as I found joy reading books written by others, it reminded me that it was what I wanted to achieve with my own book.

Writing is not about hobby, or about a career. It is something that brings out my wildest imagination and my most rational thoughts; it brings out my dreams and my nightmares; it brings out who I wish I was and who I never want to be. It is a tool that can create and destroy worlds….and when one wants to do a job as powerful and as amazing as this, hardships and trials are to be expected, because the end result would be all the more sweeter for all the hard work.

So I keep going because I am a writer. It is not what I do. It is what I am.

What about you?