This is, indeed, a hard question to answer. Maybe because there are so many answers? All of the following reasons are true for me:
I write because it is the only career I’ve ever wanted to have.
Because from my earliest memories, as my mother read to me, stories were the language of love (they made me FEEL).
Because a teacher once told me I was good at it.
Because an editor once told me that I was so bad at it I could never even be “edited to a publishable level.” (Hello petty, vengeful Ariel who lives to prove people wrong).
Because, at a core level, I feel alive when I write.
Because I learn so much every time I write a novel.
For me it's absolutely compulsive. My brain just produces these things and if I don't do something with them I think I would go a bit crazy (or more than I am already...) On a really fundamental level it's also the only thing I've ever been good at. It wasn't the talent I would have chosen. I think it was Vonnegut who said "Every writer I know would rather be a musician," and that was deeply true for me. I would have much rather been a musician or an actor or any number of other creative things, but this is the modest talent chance or circumstance gave me. So at a certain point I stopped being bitter about the talents I didn't have and decided to use the one I do to celebrate those other things. So I suppose that's why I'm an "ekphrastic" sort of writer--always most interested in representing other forms of art.
I always wanted to be a writer. If I don’t write, it feels as if a part of me is missing. And I’m with you J.T., I’m most likely unemployable when it comes to other jobs. 😁
I started writing without knowing why I needed to (I was very little), and then poetry turned into the only language that could really say what I couldn’t. I was (and am, but to a much lesser degree now, thankfully) a fearful people-pleaser, but in poems I was bold, dramatic, and spilling over with emotions.
I think I finally starting writing just to prove to myself I could. I'm an avid reader and I always thought about what it'd be like to write but always told myself nothing I could do would be good enough. In reality, it only needs to get out on paper. It doesn't have to be shared with the world, but the idea deserves to exist.
Sorry for splitting hairs with my answer, but I write to get the stories out of my head (as insane as that might sound). As a little kid, I would scribble down the tales that formed in my head. Once I entered adulthood and traveled far more than I care to admit, I wrote at night in motel rooms as a way to kill time.
Only after I finally wised up and left the rat race of Corporate America did I think about the second half of that equation—publishing. I never thought anyone would care to read them, but began in the classic internet way of blogging. To my surprise, people visited, read, and more than one suggested I write a book. After several years, I finally built up the guts (or grew crazy enough) to hit publish.
And so I write because I have to. I publish because I found it fun to engage with readers.
P.S. - Most of my old writings are long lost, but I do have my first "novel" written back in junior high school. It's utterly awful. I also have one written in long-hand in high school that I may publish one day.
This is, indeed, a hard question to answer. Maybe because there are so many answers? All of the following reasons are true for me:
I write because it is the only career I’ve ever wanted to have.
Because from my earliest memories, as my mother read to me, stories were the language of love (they made me FEEL).
Because a teacher once told me I was good at it.
Because an editor once told me that I was so bad at it I could never even be “edited to a publishable level.” (Hello petty, vengeful Ariel who lives to prove people wrong).
Because, at a core level, I feel alive when I write.
Because I learn so much every time I write a novel.
Because I am unemployable otherwise.
Because I love it.
For me it's absolutely compulsive. My brain just produces these things and if I don't do something with them I think I would go a bit crazy (or more than I am already...) On a really fundamental level it's also the only thing I've ever been good at. It wasn't the talent I would have chosen. I think it was Vonnegut who said "Every writer I know would rather be a musician," and that was deeply true for me. I would have much rather been a musician or an actor or any number of other creative things, but this is the modest talent chance or circumstance gave me. So at a certain point I stopped being bitter about the talents I didn't have and decided to use the one I do to celebrate those other things. So I suppose that's why I'm an "ekphrastic" sort of writer--always most interested in representing other forms of art.
I always wanted to be a writer. If I don’t write, it feels as if a part of me is missing. And I’m with you J.T., I’m most likely unemployable when it comes to other jobs. 😁
I started writing without knowing why I needed to (I was very little), and then poetry turned into the only language that could really say what I couldn’t. I was (and am, but to a much lesser degree now, thankfully) a fearful people-pleaser, but in poems I was bold, dramatic, and spilling over with emotions.
I think I finally starting writing just to prove to myself I could. I'm an avid reader and I always thought about what it'd be like to write but always told myself nothing I could do would be good enough. In reality, it only needs to get out on paper. It doesn't have to be shared with the world, but the idea deserves to exist.
Sorry for splitting hairs with my answer, but I write to get the stories out of my head (as insane as that might sound). As a little kid, I would scribble down the tales that formed in my head. Once I entered adulthood and traveled far more than I care to admit, I wrote at night in motel rooms as a way to kill time.
Only after I finally wised up and left the rat race of Corporate America did I think about the second half of that equation—publishing. I never thought anyone would care to read them, but began in the classic internet way of blogging. To my surprise, people visited, read, and more than one suggested I write a book. After several years, I finally built up the guts (or grew crazy enough) to hit publish.
And so I write because I have to. I publish because I found it fun to engage with readers.
P.S. - Most of my old writings are long lost, but I do have my first "novel" written back in junior high school. It's utterly awful. I also have one written in long-hand in high school that I may publish one day.
It feels like solving a puzzle you create with your own imagination. I’m always curious where my story takes me. That, I think, is wonderful.