Karen Foley
Lynn Raye Harris
Ellen Hartman
Diana Holquist
Samantha Hunter
Shirley Jump
Dee Tenorio
Jeannie Watt
Why write?
Every author has bad days, those days in which you question why you became a writer. And I’ve just been through some of them. Days of self-doubt and anxiety and fantasies about going to culinary school or getting a degree in interior design. Dreams about laughing maniacally and just blowing up the computer. Sometimes writing feels like trying to cut a forty-acre lawn with a pair of nail scissors. LOL.
I’m back to my normal fairly cheerful mood now, but I haven’t been able to answer that initial question: why did I become a writer?
Kingsley Amis apparently claimed that his main motivation to write came from the urge to annoy his readers. *
Graham Greene said that he wrote primarily because he didn’t like himself and his characters provided an escape from his own identity.*
And D.H. Lawrence apparently loved to write when he felt spiteful, likening the process to “having a good sneeze.” *
I can honestly say (after getting over my choking fit) that I don’t write for any of the reasons that those gentlemen embrace!
I write because I love language, because I love connecting with people through words, sharing emotions and lessons and philosophies through characters and how they grow during a story. Half the time I’m a true hermit, holed up in my office and pouring all my energies into the computer. But here’s the paradox: I’m a hermit and a recluse because I like people! I simply reach out to them through fiction rather than conversation. Weird? Sure, to some.
The world of the imagination saved me as a lonely kid, and I suppose there’s a part of me that wants to give back to that world, keep it going for others who need it. And there’s something about creating something from nothing that greatly appeals to me. In a sense, writing is like creating art from found objects. The found “objects” in my case are words.
Snippets of accidentally overheard conversations, headlines in newspapers, lyrics from songs. Weave a few of these disparate elements together, and you have a new idea. Then you illustrate the idea in full color and give it a beginning, a middle and an end (unless you’re into deconstruction and post-modernism and nihilism, which I was forced to study in grad school and couldn’t stand).
I write because I love to write, most of the time. Does it become a job at times? Yes, absolutely. The trick is to recapture the fun and the magic, over and over again. George Bernard Shaw may have claimed that the reason he became a writer was because he didn’t have to dress respectably,* but I think there was probably more to it than that.
Most of us write because we have to. Because despite that occasional feeling that we're cutting a forty-acre lawn with a nail scissors, there’s nothing we’d rather do.
So tell us . . . why do you like to read? Inquiring author minds want to know! Happy New Year, Karen
*These references come from the book Stranger than Fiction by Aubrey Dillon Malone.
»
Reality bites sometimes
Karen, had to jump in on this because this is the biting reality we all face from time to time, don't we? And man, can it be a whollop in the head. I had a relatively easy year and a half as a new published writer before I got socked hard last year, multiple rejections, bad reviews, and books that just wouldn't "go" and a few books that literally weren't going -- although the jury is still out to a degree, the sales on Hide and Seek kinda sucked compared to my other books. I realized afterwards that this is just the cycle of writing -- when you're in it for a while, there will be ups and downs, and you have to make a decision to ride them out.
Things got so bad at one point in September, when I was most miserable, I said to dh, and this is a pretty close quote: "Why am I doing this? Why set myself up for all this uncertainty and misery? I have three master's degrees, I have options. I never planned on doing this, I never planned to be a full time writer. So why am I doing it if it's not making me happy?"
I'd been feeling crappy for months, unable to write anything, a real writing crash. It was talking to other writers that got me through, hearing their stories. I learned that most writers experience this -- the ones who make it are the ones who pick back up and keep going, and that inspired me. They made me realize that writing is a choice -- they chose to do it, even when it sucks. We all have options, we're all talented people, but we choose this one. Choice is more powerful than anything, I think.
That really inspired me, choosing to be a writer, including all the ups and downs, and throwing myself 150% into it. I always say now that I don't write because I have to, because the truth is, I don't have to -- I could do lots of other things. But I do write because I want to, because I love it, and it's satisfying like few jobs are, which seems to be more powerful, and makes those hard times easier, in a way. It also makes me happy -- while the business stuff can suck, I like it when writing feels like reading -- the escape, the joy of the story, and as you say, connecting with other readers and writers -- it's the best!
Hmmm... I may be babbling now, so I'll stop, but hugs to you, because I don't think there's a writer out there who hasn't been where you have been recently...
Sam
Why I like to Read
LOL Mads
Okay...making a note... keep writing to save Mads's hubby. Check. ;)
Seriously, I think reading will always be more pleasurable than writing, because as much as we love our jobs, it's still work. And it takes so much longer to write a book than to read one -- think about reading the same book for 3-4 months, and you get the idea, LOL. At it's best, there are moments when writing feels like reading, when you're all caught up in the story, but that's not the norm I think. Maybe it would be if we had more time, you know, like the authors who only write one book a year, so they have more time to soak it in, maybe, but we have to be more practical and push things out way faster, writing over 1000 pages (or much more, depending on the author) of publishable writing (and who knows how many pages of unpublishable writing) every 12 months. You know, looking at those numbers, it's obvious that you can't do this if you don't love it! LOL
But reading is still my first love; writing came after. So many writers reward themselves for achieving goals by sitting down with a book. I've loved to read as long as I can remember, and I'm not one of those writers who's let writing get in the way of my reading. Some writers become too critical or too analytical and say it ruins their reading, but I haven't found that at all. If anything, I love reading more. Like you, I read to escape the realities of life and to have some fun. :)
Sam
I write because...
...I have dreamed of being a writer since I stole paper from kindergarten and stapled it into little books.
...All my teachers told me I was good at English when I was growing up and I respond well to praise.
...I love reading, and writing for me is like watching a movie unravel in my mind and trying to capture all the nuance on the page.
...I couldn't imagine doing anything else.
And Karen, I definitely have dark days. I have run into snarls with almost all of my recent books where I just had to take time out from actual writing for a few days and just really get to grips with my characters' emotions and how they change through the story. My partner tells me it's because "I've picked the low-lying fruit" and my writing is getting better. Hmmmm. It just feels more painful to me! But I still love it more than anything else in the world. I consider myself incredibly lucky to make a living from my imagination.
Every act of creation involves putting something of ourselves onto the page - that's why those bad reviews hurt so much. And why it means so much when it connects with readers.
Don't give up, ladies. My life motto is all about persistence: if you keep knocking on the door, someone will eventually open it. It's served me well so far...
Cheers
Sarah
Great advice, Sarah. "If
I needed to hear that, too... ;)
I like that, and it's true -- and we all need to keep those little nuggets in mind.
Although in real life they'd call the police if someone kept knocking... I bet some eds wish they could, ROTFL
Sam
Well, in general, I just
I read because I have too!
lol Karen!