Hi, writers! It’s hard to believe that we are a week into 2019 already!
I ended 2018 and started 2019 teaching at a workshop for writers who have done the One Year Adventure Novel curriculum. I took no pictures (not really sure why???) so you’ll just have to take my word for it that it was a fantastic time.
I always find it so fulfilling to be around the next generation of writers. They are such an encouraging and creative bunch.
In other news, I still don’t have all my goals for 2019 figured out quite yet, but most of us are probably tired of goals posts anyway. Resolution posts are sooo last week.
Instead, I want to address a question that many of us ponder at some point in our journey as a writer: Why, write?
If you haven’t asked yourself this already—Why am I doing this?—I imagine the question will come eventually. Maybe when you’re walking harder paths on your journey with editing, publication, or critique groups. Or when life is really busy with school and work and homework, and you desperately want to prioritize writing, but also ask yourself why?
Or, maybe, if you’re like me, you won’t think about “why?” at all until you start hanging out with other writers. Until you start hearing others say things like, “I write because I want young people to know there’s hope.” Or, “I write because I think stories have the power to change others.”
I often left those conversations feeling selfish. What is wrong with me? Other writers want to better the world, want to improve lives, and I write it because I love and enjoy it so much. Surely, that’s not all writing is about for me! Surely, I’m not that self-involved!
I felt as though others had the “right” answer, and I had the wrong.
I don’t feel that way anymore.
I will now happily and boldly proclaim that I write because I love it. Writing brings me joy. I feel more like myself when I write.
Here’s what shifted for me. I began to know in my heart, not just in my head, that writing was a gift given to me upon my creation. Writing and stories were always there inside me, wanting to get out. I didn’t put that passion there, it just was.
I began to think about how much better a gift is when it’s received in love and used with joy.
We all know this, even if we don’t think about it. Say you give your sister a scarf that you picked out specifically for her because you thought she would love it. You give it to her, and she seems excited. You see her wear the scarf a lot, so you assume she loves it. But then you find out she wears it only because it seems like the right thing to do. She feels an obligation.
Yes, she’s still using the gift you gave her. But her motivation probably doesn’t make you feel very good. Maybe you even think, “I wish she just wouldn’t wear it if she only does so because she feels like she should.”
On the other hand, wouldn’t it make you, the gift giver, feel delighted to see her wear it if you knew she did so out of joy?
Let’s look at it a different way. What if you found out that your best friend primarily hangs out with you so she can help guide you morally? Sure, she enjoys you well-enough, but she primarily hangs out with you to help you.
That would suck, wouldn’t it? Who likes being someone else’s project? Nobody.
You want your friend to be your friend because they like you. Not for any other reason. When you’re in trouble, of course you want their help, but you want them to help because they like you and care about you.
This is illustrated so well in Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, when Jacob says to Newt, “You only kept me around because… Wait, why did you keep me around?” And Newt responds, “Because I like you. Because you’re my friend.” And it becomes so much harder for Jacob to walk away because that is a much more compelling reason than, “Because I wanted to help you.” Is there anything that makes us feel more whole and complete than when someone chooses to be with us JUST BECAUSE THEY WANT TO?
So why, then, would I feel selfish for writing—for enjoying the gift I’ve been given—because I love it? I don’t feel selfish for marrying my husband because I love him, or spending time with my friends just because I love them.
I want to be very clear that when I say this, I’m NOT saying, “Unless you write primarily because you love it, you are WRONG,” because I don’t believe that at all. I’m not here to judge anybody’s why … and that includes my own. I’m no longer going to dismiss my own why as not good enough.
If my stories help you, I am so glad. I love receiving emails and hearing that my stories have been beneficial, and each time I’m amazed/humbled by that lovely side effect. But when I sit down to write stories, I never ever think, “This is going to help a lot of people.” And I’ve finally reached a place where I’m 100% okay with that.
When did you start writing, and why have you continued?
I started writing in 6th grade, sometime in the fall of 2016, just because my English teacher told me I had a gift for writing. For now, my “why” for writing is just to practice with my gift and learn how to write. When I’m older, though, I think my “why” might be to share my experience. I’m going to start writing devotional books this year, and I would love to publish them.
That’s wonderful, Amanda! I love that your English teacher called that out in you. Teachers are amazing. Keep us posted on your devotionals!
I seriously can’t remember a time in my life when I haven’t been writing. And I think my why has changed over the years (or maybe matured?). I started writing because it was the natural thing for me to do – telling stories just felt right plus I loved doing it. I was also a very outgoing little kid surrounded by people who I knew adored everything I did (looking back they were probably annoyed at me most of the time). But I also wrote stories for all those people to read, because I loved sharing. As I became a teenager I hid what I wrote because I started writing more for me to help me get through some tough stuff — most of that was poetry. But that time really helped me process a lot. But as I grew older even more I realized that I couldn’t hide my writing forever. I needed to share it. And so I did with friends and our own small magazines. And as my writing developed more I finally labeled it and now I saw I write to be edified, encouraged, and entertained, and I write so that others might be, too.
What a beautiful reflection of your journey, Keturah! I recognize a lot of my own stages in there.
My mom says my aunt predicted I would be a writer when I was two. I don’t remember when I first sat down to write a story or why I did it…but I know that I love it, that others have enjoyed my writing, and that God gave me this passion for words. Sometimes I feel like the pursuit of stories–my own projects or others’–is the only thing I’m “good at.” I guess that means God made me to write. I’m happy in that.
That’s wonderful, Megan! How sweet that your aunt spoke that over you!
Great insight!
Thanks, Katie!
I started writing in 2010, because I was tired of reading books that were historically incorrect, included content that wasn’t that great, etc. Now, my main focus is to please the Lord and share the Gospel, while making the stories acurate as well.
I hear a decent amount of writers say they started writing stories for similar reasons. I’m glad you started, Ryana!
I started writing because I loved it so much. I also write to point people to God and share His wonderful gift with them.
Wonderful!
Woah, am I the only person here who doesn’t write for a god?
I started writing in fourth grade after my therapist told me to express my feeling in writing. Instead of doing what I was supposed to (journal entries), I translated my world into a fantasy setting with talking dogs.
I guess I still write to discover myself. If I can’t find a reason to keep doing what I’m doing through writing, I don’t know how I will!
That’s great, Bleu. I was never very good at journaling because of my tendency to embellish. And I’m positive you’re not the only one. Just the brave souls who said it first!
Happy New Year. A great post Stephanie. A while ago, I got to thinking why I write, as a kind of motivation to keep me going when my bum wants to be anywhere but my chair! A friend sent me this link to a poem Shannon Adler wrote about why she writes. I had a go too, using her format. When I am procrastinating, I read the poem again!
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/965875-i-write-to-find-strength-i-write-to-become-the
Su, that’s wonderful! What a great way to motivate yourself. I had never seen Shannon Adler’s poem before. That’s fantastic.
This is the post I didn’t know I needed to hear. <3 Thank you!
I love hearing that! I’m so glad!
I love this post! I don’t even know exactly when I started writing; I’ve just always done it. My older siblings wrote stories; I don’t remember that influencing me, but maybe it did, maybe it didn’t.
As for why I continue to write, I think it’s a combination of two of the things you mentioned– I love it, and I can use it as a way to reach others. I realized something the other day that I think taught me something about myself. In the times when I was juggling writing and other things in my mind, trying to decide which path was meant for me, writing was always there. I thought “If I’m not a full-time writer, I can still do THIS and write at the same time.” And I realized that I was subconsciously planning to always have writing in my life. I’ve never thought about quitting.
And I think that gives me a little hint that whether I pursue anything else in life, I’ll always be writing.
theonesthatreallymatter.blogspot.com
That’s wonderful, Emily. Thank you for sharing! Like you, writing has always factored into my long term plans.
I officially started writing a novel when I was 8. I like filling the world (or at least my notebooks and Google Drive folders) with my stories.
That’s wonderful!
I was very happy to read your analysis of writing purely for the love of it, because I feel somewhat similarly. My reason for writing is that it’s my hobby, and I’m good at it. I’m not sure it’s quite accurate to say that I LOVE writing, because that may express a little more enthusiasm than my dour self is wont to, but it’s my hobby, and if I don’t write, I miss it. When you asked this question on facebook the other day, I didn’t reply, but I thought about it, and at first I thought “because I like it and I’m good at it” wasn’t a very good answer. But then I thought, similar to your conclusion in this blog post, that if God gave me a talent for writing, the only decent thing to do would be to use that talent.
Lydia, that’s fantastic. I’m so glad you thought it through and didn’t allow yourself to feel shame over your “Why?” like I did for years. I also love that you refer to yourself as dour in this. Your self-analysis not only made me laugh, but also highlighted your gift with words.