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Why a writer?
I can’t answer that question for you, but I can recommend you figure it out.
The easy answer is because you can’t NOT write. Because it’s an addiction; a compulsion that can’t be denied. And because it can’t be denied, you need to decide what path you want to take.
Some writers say they hear voices in thier heads. Characters that talk to them and nag at them until the author sits down and writes the story that voice is telling them. Some write because they’ve got something to say, and they want the whole world to hear it. Others write because they have the desire to see their name on the cover of book.
Me? I started writing because I was getting to that age where I started to think about the future, and I realized that if I didn’t do something, I was going to be a bartender for the rest of my life.
I’d enjoyed writing when I was in high school and I’d always had the thought that someday I would write a book. If I’d known then just how hard a task it was, I might have decided on another career.
Now I know how hard it is, and I still do it. I do it because I love to look at a complete story and know that it came from inside me. It’s an indescribable feeling when I know that those words are on that piece of paper because I wanted them there.
Whatever your reason for writing is, you need to figure it out.
Why? Because if you write for the pure enjoyment of putting words on paper, of telling stories, you need to know that even if you’re eyes are the only ones to read those words, that that’s enough for you. It’ll help you stay grounded when others are striving for publication and you feel the need to join in the race, just to be part of the pack.
And if you want others to see your words, to buy them in bookstores or off the Internet, then you need to acknowledge that, and study the business aspect of publishing. Because like all other businesses in this world, it can suck you in, chew you up, and spit you back out if you aren’t strong enough to withstand the trials, or confident enough to stand up for yourself and what you believe in.
Nobody ever said writing was easy. But if you know why you’re doing it, the chances that you keep on doing it are greater.