“Why do you write?” is a question people ask me time and time again.
It seems to be a never-ending cycle that I need to spend my time on, but it is an important thing to know. A writer should understand their inner feelings. However, I have notice that a lot of the time the people who ask why someone writes are under the impression that everyone can write. Well, yes, that is true enough, but that is not the reason why writers do what they do. Sure, everyone can write, that is a given, but not everyone can write in a creative way and interesting way.
Of course, that is a cheap answer and does not explain “Why I Write.”
The truth behind “Why I Write” is a lot more complex than giving a simple answer like “because I enjoy it” or “because I can.” For myself, and I am sure many other writers will agree, there is a variety of factors involved in our decision to become writers. My story is definitely going to be different to any other writer, and that is a part of what makes writing so unique. Our perspectives are all different.
But WHY do I write?
- The Basic Answer
I’ll start by stating the obvious. I write because I want to write. A true writer, a real writer, is one that understands there is a very slim chance of them receiving any kind of recognition or fame. That betrays the very principle of being a writer. To write is to create and entertain. Entertainment has been around since the dawn of time. Only in modern times do we, as a society, put a price tag on entertainment.
I am content with writing my stories and only having maybe one or two people read them. From those few people, I know I have achieved something in my life. To be a big name is not something anyone should aspire to. Invention and inspiration should be the life of a writer. Mould future generations into wanting to do what you enjoy doing.
- More Than Money
Writing is not a profession where anyone should expect any kind of remuneration. I embrace that fact. I do not write to make any kind of money off what I do. If I do, I consider it a bonus. More than simply money, any kind of funds I receive for my books tells me something far more important. Any sale tells me that there is interest in what I do, and people enjoy what I do.
I also recognise that the very idea of publication is flawed. There is no real benefit to utilising the publication services available to a writer, because a lot of the time what these services provide does not benefit a writer. Everything a publisher, distributer or producer does benefits them alone. They do not spare more than a passing thought for the people whose ideas they use to line their pockets. In the eyes of a publisher, a writer is replaceable, just as in Hollywood, an actor or director is replaceable.
- Doing It For The Art
I will be the first to say I am far from the best writer, but I do not aspire to be. I aspire to tell stories to other people. Everything anyone writes has been written before, but the way in which they story is told is what makes it unique. I write for the enjoyment I get from telling a story my way. In my book, Sea Spray, I have a sequence that is directly influenced by the Mines of Moria section from J.R.R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. I do not think of it as a carbon copy, because that would be plagiarism. I like to think of what I wrote as an homage to the original.
From that above, I feel that to be an artist, as I consider myself to be, is to be someone who is so well ingrained in the life that they choose, they do not care for anything but the art form. To be a writer is to do so because it is what you enjoy doing. It is the same for anyone with a “respectable” profession. They do it because they want to. They do it for the art.
- Inspiring A Future
Perhaps the most difficult thing as an artist in any field is coming up with new ways to spin the same old story. At the core of any work of art is the same basic story. What each generation hopes to do is continue to tell that story in a style relevant to their generation. The cycle is a never-ending one, and each subsequent generation builds and expounds on what influenced them. Therefore, a writer or an artist does not aim to please their generation; they aim to inspire the next generations.
It says something when a writer passes into history. Many of them might not find much success in their lifetime, but their legacy is not something to scoff at. To be remembered is to know you inspired and influenced.
- Destiny?
I know a lot of people who talk about something being their destiny or how they were born to do something. For artists, there is no such thing as destiny. We make our own way in life and we recognise it as a path we choose to undertake. No matter how solemn it might be, it is something we feel would be the most beneficial way we can change the world.
I do not mean to sound cocky when I say that writing can change the world, but that is the truth. Across the seven billion people on the face of the earth, the most important media device is writing in any form. Without writing, there would be no other form of entertainment save for folk tales passed down throughout the generations. And that is what writing is. Writing is nothing more than a folk tale changed by the ages, so in a way, a writer is following destiny. A destiny in place since the dawn of man. Writers are the seers and shamans and storytellers of ancient tribes.
- What We Do Best
Any person can do any form of art at any given time. It takes a truly unique mind (and it does not need to be an educated mind) to craft something beautiful. The general public (and I do not mean to be insulting here) sees art as something any halfwit can do. That could not be further from the truth. To write a story is to create a world full of characters, every one of which needs to be distinguished. No two characters in a book are the same. Whether by their actions or their likes or dislikes is up to the author to decide.
This principle carries into cinema and television. A screenplay is another form of writing, with a writer at the core. The writer has to parse that world and ensure it is coherent and well thought out. No matter how bad a visual product ends up, a screenplay is as sacred a text as any novel, no matter how bad.
Musicians and painters use a similar principle. Everything is carefully thought out for maximum effect and to evoke the right feeling from a consumer. Without that thought process, everything would be as bland as everything else
So to answer the people who ask “Why I Write,” I say that it is not an easy question to answer and what I have written here is not even the tip of the iceberg. The thought process of a writer goes well beyond surface answers, which is what everything I have said is. There is no deep answer above, because such an answer should be prevalent not in response to a dumb question, but at the core of the writing of a writer.
The library of an artist speaks for itself. The reason they write is embedded in their very being. It is one of their morals, and their works contain every minute detail of what their own life is.
For writers, we write from the heart. Our novels are our romances. Our poetry is our heartbreak. Our essays are the children of our brain. Our characters are aspects of us.
Writers write because they want to.
I would love to know why it is that you do what you do.
If you are a writer, why?
If you are a musician, why?
If you are a poet, why?
For me, I write because it is what I love to do.
Sea Spray available at https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0795TB37R
Fenrir's Lair 
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