Why do you write?
I was chatting with a friend recently. She was discouraged about her writing and rejection and everything else. I had to be honest with her: it's not easy, and it doesn't really get easier. It changes--the scope of the rejections will change--but I always battle that fear, "This sucks. People will hate this. They'll hate me for writing it. I'm embarrassing myself."
And yet, despite all my fears and pain, I keep writing. Maybe I'm just masochistic like that.
I asked my friend a question: why do you write? Just as we're told our book characters need motivations for their actions, authors need to know their motivations, too.
We don't do this for money (and if you do, you're delusional), though the money is awfully nice when it comes. Most writers feel a need to write, a compulsion. (If you're interested in the science behind that, there's an amazing though dense book called The Midnight Disease by Alice Flaherty.) We need to tell stories. We need to let the voices in our head have an outlet. We need to feel validated and intelligent.
Our conversation reminded me of another talk I had with my husband a while back, when there was a big lottery jackpot in the news. I bought some quick-pick tickets, and then found out my husband also bought tickets--not something he usually does. So, we had that nice little dream chat about what we would do when we won big.
We agreed on the obvious things. Pay off the house. Move someplace pleasant within easy drive of my parents--hello, central California coast! My husband would quit his job and likely seek employment as a math teacher, as money would no longer be an issue. That got me thinking about my own job, my own motivations.
If I won that mega jackpot, I would continue exactly what I am doing now. I would still send out short stories. I would still collect rejections the way some people collect Beanie Babies. I would still have an agent. I would want my novels to be published through traditional means, rejections and all; I don't want to buy my way into a book contract, I want to earn it. But, I told my husband, when I did finally get a contract, I would use our money and hire the most awesome publicity team on the planet!
Alas, we didn't win big. But the dreams are still there... and I still hope to hire a PR team someday, even with a much more modest budget.
Tell me... what motivates you to write? What would change (if anything) if you won that lottery jackpot?
And yet, despite all my fears and pain, I keep writing. Maybe I'm just masochistic like that.
I asked my friend a question: why do you write? Just as we're told our book characters need motivations for their actions, authors need to know their motivations, too.
We don't do this for money (and if you do, you're delusional), though the money is awfully nice when it comes. Most writers feel a need to write, a compulsion. (If you're interested in the science behind that, there's an amazing though dense book called The Midnight Disease by Alice Flaherty.) We need to tell stories. We need to let the voices in our head have an outlet. We need to feel validated and intelligent.
Our conversation reminded me of another talk I had with my husband a while back, when there was a big lottery jackpot in the news. I bought some quick-pick tickets, and then found out my husband also bought tickets--not something he usually does. So, we had that nice little dream chat about what we would do when we won big.
We agreed on the obvious things. Pay off the house. Move someplace pleasant within easy drive of my parents--hello, central California coast! My husband would quit his job and likely seek employment as a math teacher, as money would no longer be an issue. That got me thinking about my own job, my own motivations.
If I won that mega jackpot, I would continue exactly what I am doing now. I would still send out short stories. I would still collect rejections the way some people collect Beanie Babies. I would still have an agent. I would want my novels to be published through traditional means, rejections and all; I don't want to buy my way into a book contract, I want to earn it. But, I told my husband, when I did finally get a contract, I would use our money and hire the most awesome publicity team on the planet!
Alas, we didn't win big. But the dreams are still there... and I still hope to hire a PR team someday, even with a much more modest budget.
Tell me... what motivates you to write? What would change (if anything) if you won that lottery jackpot?
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