An MFRW Author Post – And check out the other blogs on the hop!

 

Several years ago, I had a boss ask me why I write. I was in college, studying journalism and minoring in the ins and outs of the publishing industry. Writing was part of my every day and would only go on to become more fundamental to me as I graduated and began a new career.

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Why do I write?

It was a simple question on the surface. Did I like telling stories? Did I like creating worlds? Did I like bringing characters to life? All of the above and a whole lot more.

We don’t go into writing because we’re expecting to make a boatload of money. It’s not impossible to eke out a livable wage, but there are far more direct paths to stability and a comfortable lifestyle. We certainly don’t start writing because it’ll be good for our egos or self-esteem. I’ve gotten more rejections letters this year than I would need to wallpaper my entire apartment, and I’ve gotten back up from each and every one of them trying to remember why I started in the first place.

letters-2111546_960_720No, the glitz and glamour of writing, the late nights and stacks of coffee mugs and Main Character in his Bathrobe at Five PM™ romance of writing is pretty much made up and certainly not the reason we write. The reason I write.

I write because I can’t stop.

Writing finds us in unique and funny ways, in the thank you notes we share with loved ones, in the speeches we give at weddings, in the ramblings we hack out on our phones late into the night. I’ve always been writing, as a journalist, as a novelist, as a poet, an online communicator and everything in between. Because I honestly couldn’t stop. Writing is the one fundamental truth about myself I can rely on. Words and stories and characters and ideas make up who I am as a person at the very base level.

As we begin a new year and look ahead, to new jobs, to new adventures, to need journeys, it helps to remember what drives me to write. It’s important to find focus, to plan and edit and market, but often times those logistics bog down the creative flow, the columns holding up the artistic foundation. We don’t write for money. We don’t write for fame. We write because it is who we are at our core.

Perhaps the better question would be, what are you going to write next?

In the new year with some exciting new stories on the horizon, I can’t wait to find out.

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