Two days ago I shared something I’d come across on Facebook – I can’t remember where it was now, but it was people’s response to a question about why people write, what motivates them. There were some interesting answers, some to the point – ‘because I want to/because I have to/ it’s what I do/it’s who I am’ and others with a particular purpose in mind, such as political or religious reasons, or as a sort of therapy.
I was intrigued by it and put the answers into different groups, just out of curiosity! Here is a selection I grouped together of people who feel that writing is just a fundamental part of who they are:
- It is like eating and breathing
- Just something I do
- Something connected to my very essence
- I write because it’s impossible for me not to — it’s a deep-rooted part of me
- Because writing is the only thing in my life. It’s how I exist, how I interact with the world (and change it)
- Because I am
- Because I cannot not write
- I write to share the stories in my head, and to escape reality
- The voices in my head won’t shut up. Just kidding. I have a desperate need to get words on paper/screen & share w/the world
- Because there is no possible way I could ever give up writing again
- I can’t not write. I tried to give up the hobby a while ago, keep coming back for me. Finally getting better at it. Writing is hard
- I write because there are stories in my head and they need out. I have always had this need to write and will always have it
- Because I have to….
- I write Bc I always have. It’s inside of me
- To talk with the world, no matter what corner it is
- I write because I owe it to my ideas. To my characters. To the worlds I have created. I write for myself. I live in my stories
- Because the voices tell me to. 🙂
- Because otherwise I’d just be a raving lunatic who got lost in her own made up worlds. Writing them keeps me sane… Ish
- Words are powerful ~ Can use to share & connect us all. Helps me make sense of what’s inside & out to join my 2 worlds
- For my characters, I suppose. It’d be a waste if they only lived in my head. 😊My dream is to let them live through others😊
It’s interesting to me as a writer, how many people have such vivid characters ‘living in their head’… I understand that! I guess my most ‘real’ character is Thomas Radwinter… here’s a link to my books about him:
Lois Elsden 