WHY Are We Doing This?
In her excellent book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Liz Gilbert* asserts that being a writer is a vocation, not a career. Vocation implies a level of commitment and suitability that transcends merely showing up at a job (even one that comes with benefits and a nice paycheck.) Vocation gets at the calling that many of us feel to write—and the willingness to sacrifice some of that career “stability”.
If we didn’t feel called, why on earth would we do what we do? Sitting down to invent a whole world that we hope a reader will fall into is a bit crazy, no?
Why writers do what we do will always be somewhat intangible—something we can’t fully explain. But we’re writers, so we’re damn well going to try.
I felt the call to be a writer from the age of seven. Then spent a good many years with my fingers jammed in my ears shouting “LA, LA, LA!” trying not to heed it...because I was afraid I’d suck.
I might have kept on that way forever, trying to drown out my inner voice. But then I had a daughter. I wanted this beautiful little being to grow up knowing her dreams were possible.
Which meant I had to go after my own. Gulp.
Once I got to work, I realized that writing—especially fiction writing—was an amazing tool to learn about myself and my own place in the world. Reading always did that for me too, but this went even further.
Writing is a way to figure out what I’m capable of—exploring not just my imagination, but my morality and capacity.
My “big why” when it comes to writing is this: I write to uncover who I am, and who I can be. I’m writing to find the next, more evolved, version of myself.
And sometimes I suck at it. But sucking at writing is SO much better than sucking because I’m too scared to write.
I’m sure your story of why you write is unique, yet, I bet in some ways it’s parallel to mine.
I want to know: Why do you write?
What are you hoping will come out of it? Not just in terms of book sales, but in terms of who you become and the impact you’ll have on the world?
Give it some thought. It will help you stay committed when things get hard.
*I call her Liz instead of Elizabeth because in my imagination we are bosom friends who spend hours discussing life, the universe and everything.**
**Yes, that was a Douglas Adams reference.