If you are a writer, one of the most common questions that you may get is – Why do you write?
Whenever I’m hit with this question I have trouble answering it; whether the person asking me is a family member, a friend, a new acquaintance, or a fan it doesn‘t matter – I get nervous when I have to answer the question and I tend to bend the truth and give them the answer they want to hear.
It‘s just the way it is
Probably the main reason why I hesitate to give the honest answer is that – I don‘t know! I really have no answer to that question. To me, it‘s like asking the fish – why do you swim? They don‘t know. We know that they were born that way, it helps them to move, to escape the predator, or to catch a meal if they are the predator, but for them – it‘s just the way it is, and it has always been.
Sometimes, I speculate about that and try to figure out a rational reason for writing and I come up with several different answers but none of them can hold a single truth. For example:
- Because I think I‘m talented for writing (but there are days when I think that I‘m not)
- Because I enjoy doing it (but there are days when I don‘t)
- Because I have voices in my head and I like to give them purpose (but sometimes my head is silent)
- Because I like telling stories (but sometimes I don‘t, especially if I‘ve told it to one group of people and then I have to tell the same story to another group of people, and writing requires a lot of retelling in the shape of rewriting)
- Because I want to leave a trace in history (but sometimes I just want to keep my writing private)
- Because I have something important to tell (but sometimes it’s rather pointless)
- Because I want to transfer emotion to other people (but sometimes it‘s just informative)
- Because I want to influence change in people (but sometimes I don‘t think I can)
- And sometimes I just want to have a life well spent (but that‘s not the only thing I care about life)
- Sometimes I just enjoy seeing my name in the book (sometimes it‘s antagonizing)
These are just some of the reasons and now you probably also realize that there is no right or wrong answer to this question. Do you share the same experience? Please, leave the answer in the comment‘s section below.