This holiday week, the Inkitt bloggers will be reflecting on why they write. Read on for insight into their personal journeys…
I write because I finally believe I can.
That may sound a little strange. I definitely write because I have stories to tell. And I write because it’s exciting to create something from my own imagination. It’s satisfying to watch the thread of an idea weave into a complex world filled with characters I’ve invented and adventures of my own making. I write because I love to, even when it’s hard and feels like work.
When I was a little girl, if you’d asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I’d say writer, then astronaut, then writer, then archeologist, then writer again. It was there all along, this desire to create something with words. I wrote poetry, horse stories, and adventure tales. Later, I wrote research papers for school, documents for work, blog posts, and sometimes more poetry.
But, somewhere along the line, I got it into my head that I couldn’t write a whole book, that I couldn’t possibly carry a story arc from start to finish, that I didn’t have the required skills or the discipline to do it.
Then several years ago, I took on a year-long writing project for work, and I issued myself a challenge. Since I had to establish a daily writing habit around this project, could I also write something creative every day? Could I actually finish a manuscript? At the end of nine-months, I had a quality report for my job, and I had a finished draft of my first novel. It was a very rough draft, pretty terrible in fact, but it was enough for me to finally believe I could be a writer.
Once I’d leaped the hurdle, I knew I wanted writing to be my next career. But writing as a side-gig or because it’s a passion isn’t the same thing as trying to make a career out of it. I had to ask my self what it would look like to be a professional writer. Five years ago, I couldn’t have predicted the answer, and I suspect it will continue to evolve. I spend a good bit of time writing my novels, but I also take on select editorial projects, blog work, manage a book club website, and do webinars and programming online and at writer’s conferences. I spend a good bit of time traveling for signings, and because some of my projects are indie published, I’m also responsible for all the marketing and promotional work that goes along with a new release.
All in all, this writing adventure has taken on a life of its own, and separating the creative endeavor from the business side of things certainly keeps it interesting. There are days when what I do now absolutely feels like a job, but when the words flow, and a story begins to take from on the page, there’s nothing I’d rather be doing.
