Why Do We Write?

More people want to become professional writers than any other time. A writer’s conference in Chicago just a year ago attracted more than 10,000 attendees. The creative writing classes at colleges and universities went from about fifty courses in the 1980’s to more than 300 today inside the United States. More than 110 million blogs crowd the internet.  

The number of would-be authors is ballooning out of control because of the easy access and inexpensive methods available to self-publishing. Major publishing houses number less than a half dozen, and the number of regional book printers keeps expanding to accommodate the glut of new authors.

Many authors write to make money and to become famous. The odds are stacked against a new author reaching that fame. In fact, you have a better chance to be accepted as a student by an Ivy League school than to get a book published without having to pay for the process. Paying for publication is the reality that guarantees your book will be printed for sale. The next difficult step is getting the book sold.

Beyond the desire to make money and get rich, we write for various reasons. Here are a few of those reasons:

We write to expand our consciousness. Writing is an art form that expands aesthetic experiences, and that gives us excitement in making art of everyday moments.

We write to make names for ourselves. After we die our words could outlive us if we are good enough to impact our readers.

We write to discover purpose. Every story matters to the person living it. We write to bring purpose to the world.

Writers bring meaning to pain. Every story requires pain and suffering. If the protagonist doesn’t experience pain, she won’t change and develop. If your story contains only joy and happiness, the reader will put down the story with a reaction similar to “ho hum.” Pain is the important teacher.

These four reasons to write are not the only ones you should follow or even the most important ones to use. Keep writing the best fiction you can. Discouragement is not a consideration.

The Help, a novel written by Kathryn Stockett, was published February 2009. It quickly became a best seller and an acclaimed film. Stockett submitted her manuscript to 60 publishers before it was accepted by G.P. Putnam’s Sons. That’s an example of not giving up.

Keep writing. You will immediately get your reward when you finish your next story. Visit this blog next week for something new. Visit my web site at www.joevlatino.com. My book The Device is available there from Amazon.com.