I don’t think that most writers do it for fame and fortune –
after all very few get that. There’s a need, perhaps a hunger to follow an elusive
creature – call it inspiration, a muse, whatever. One writer said to me once,
that writing was the only thing she knew how to do well. That’s not the case
for me – I’ve had several different jobs, and put a great deal of time and effort
into doing them well. But there’s something about writing that fulfills in a
way that other jobs or activities don’t.
The reasons writers give for writing may vary. Some do it to
influence or educate others, and perhaps that’s a part of my reasons, but not
the major one. Others want to entertain,
but again, I think that’s probably a secondary reason or not the main one for
most. Many are as creative with their reasons for writing as are their books. Douglas
Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and other books) said, “I
love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” “I love
to get published,” said Tom Wolfe (The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test, Bonfire
of the Vanities) “It maddens me not to get published.” Rudyard Kipling (Kim,
The Jungle Book), said, “Words are the most powerful drug used by
mankind.”
It’s not easy to write; one sits down alone at a desk or
table or anywhere with a pen or pencil and paper, or with a computer or typewriter,
and stares at blankness, sometimes for a long period. At times, there’s magic
that happens, and words flow, then again it may be like having a tooth pulled
without anesthetic.
What I love is when the ideas and words flow, even if I know
that later I’ll have to revise. Advice from Coletter (Cheri, Claudine):
“Put down everything that comes into your head and then you’re a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own
stuff’s worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.” The act of creation, making
something that didn’t exist before gives me a high, the kind of satisfaction, I
don’t get from many other things. It’s an especially powerful feeling when I
think that I’ve got it right, when I get the description or the characters or
the events, or a passage the way I want it so that it conveys what I want it to
convey. Of course, a reader may get an entirely different emotion; see things I
didn’t know I was putting in. And that’s another great feeling.
Creation – we can all do it; it doesn’t have to be writing,
can be drawing, sewing, cooking, gardening, telling a story to a grandchild,
solving a knotty problem.
So I write because it’s an amazing, challenging, difficult,
easy, magical, heart rending, joyful experience. And it’s equally great to share
what I’ve written.
Writers like to hear what you think of their work – so don’t
be shy, let them know you read it, let them know if you liked something, if it
touched you, if you laughed, cried, smiled.
(Note: All quotes are
from “Quotable Quotes on Writers and Writing”
http://www.logicalcreativity.com/jon/quotes.html#b)
