Why Do You Write?

Is it because you can’t stand all the voices in your head shouting to be heard, fighting with each other for dominance, pushing and shoving to get out (oh, is that just me?). Do you write because you want to be a best-selling author with a bajillion dollars and an agent and editor who send you chocolates and good wine weekly? Or is it just because you like to write, think you’re pretty damn good at it, and know there are readers out there that want your stories?

Personally, I DO want to make money writing. So far my book sales have, at best, kept me in Happy Meals. My newspaper and magazine articles have provided a bit more revenue, but not much. It costs money to be a writer – you know, those pesky expenses like membership fees, contests, ink, paper, conference and workshop registration, etc., and I sometimes struggle just to break even.

So, what’s a writer to do? I know I have decades of writing ahead of me – like I said, there are a lot of voices in my head just waiting to get out. I can wait to make my writing fortune, but I DO intend to make it. What I’m not going to do is write AT the money. I won’t chase what’s hot right now, because readers are inherently fickle. They can turn on a dime. I’ll write stories about characters and events I like, because that’s the only way I can make myself sit down and put tens of thousands of words on paper. I’m not saying I don’t occasionally write an article for a publication that’s about something I’m not terribly interested in, but that’s a couple thousand words, and I consider it honing my craft to be able to distill two hours of interviews or a day’s worth of research into those few thousand words.

I’m not selling out, I’m doing what has to be done in order to do what I really want to do. Personally, I can’t afford to pay for my writing habit out of my household budget. Our family’s income just doesn’t allow it. Yet.

How much writing income is enough for you? Do you just want to see your name on a book cover – no matter if it’s E-book or print or if you don’t make a dime on it? Do you need it to be on the shelf at your local bookstore? Do you want to hit the bestseller list? Have a framed copy of a ginormous royalty check on the wall? For me, it’s each of the above, and all in good time.

I wish all this for you – or whatever it is that floats your writing boat. And I hope that you remember the other writers around you when it happens and that you revel in any success they have. Offer them your help, advice, hope, and a shoulder to cry on, just as other RMFW’s have done and will do for us. Maybe volunteer for the organization? And, most of all, Write On!