Why I Write Fiction
A Creative Outlet
By day, I work in IT doing mainly SQL coding and shuffling data to and fro. I massage it into pretty pictures so that data can be transmuted into information. By night and early mornings I write. It offers me a chance to dump the ideas that are rattling around in my head onto a blank page. Are they always there? No, but when they manifest they tend to be persistent, playing out in child-like fantasies in periods of quiet, however brief they may be. It can be argued that programming is in itself a creative endeavor, which I would agree to a certain extent, however it is contained within its own silo and limit of delivered functions.
And it’s cathartic.
Fun
It’s sometimes really, really fun to be able to paint a picture, tell a story, and make someone else feel something with a string of letters put together in just the right way. Anything you can imagine you can simply just make it up and give it a persistent slot in time. This is of course assuming an EMP weapon, or EMP transmission from space doesn’t wipe every form of digital storage and the paper itself is somehow timeless. What I find most interesting about writing is that there are many ways to say the same thing, each having an entirely feeling and impact in the way the sentence is constructed
For example, let’s say something about it being night and cold and the character is about to sleep.
The night was dark and cold, grays pressing down on his back with the weight of impending nightmares.
The nights grew darker, the world all iron grays transcending into casket blacks.
Night fell and his fingers went so cold they wouldn’t open, fists quivering against the empty blankets.
You get the idea! Options! Fun! That brings me to…challenges.
It’s Hard
I once thought getting my BS in computer science was one of my most difficult accomplishments. Writing my first book easily eclipsed that. Writing is fun about 10% of the time and the other 99% of the time it’s just fucking work. See my post on Writing is Digging Ditches Most of the time you’re just rolling up your sleeves and getting to work. Most of the time the thought that cycles in my head is: “This is shit.” But you just carry on and one day look back at a finished draft and think: “Hm. *scratches balls* maybe this shit doesn’t stink so bad after all.”
Diversified Income
It’s a pretty cool way to create a new stream of income. Theoretically, as long as people read books in whatever form they may take, the content is evergreen. The cool thing about fiction is that it is not a fad, nor is it a self-help book written by a charlatan. Fiction books have been around for a while and are therefore likely to stay around according to the Lindy Effect. Bottom line: write it once, get paid for life.
Growth
I’m in the process of rewriting Stormcaller – Book 1 of The Age of Dawn because I think the book is turd in need of some serious polishing. When I first wrote it, I had to say I was quite impressed with myself. I reread it before embarking on the rewrite and cringed at least 167 times. This was only two years ago, so it’s pretty cool to observe your own skills sharpening.
Rewarding
Writing is not just monetarily rewarding, but finishing a book leaves you a nice boost of confidence when you can lean back and check out the finished product. It’s something that never would have existed without your tireless will and effort to put it into existence. And finally, the best part…
Connecting with Readers
When people email me to discuss the books or just to chat, I find the experience incredible and surreal and one of the best reasons why I write fiction. I’ve always been on the consumer side, writing to writers and hoping they’d respond. To my dismay, more often than not they do not respond. At this point in my meager writing career, I always respond. Will I forever? I’ll damn sure try. It’s really cool to know that you’re creating a world where people can find some temporary escape. As a devout reader of fantasy and science fiction myself it’s pretty awesome to be on the other side.
Readers: Do you write? Perhaps another creative endeavor you adore? What do you love about it? Let me know in the comments!
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