Why Bother Writing?
Why Bother Writing?
Have you ever thought about what motivates someone to want to write? Some write for purely business reasons and monetary gain, plus to inflate their egos, while most do not.
Personally, I write the kinds of stories that I would like to read, and that gives me endless pleasure. If others like them as well, I look upon it as a bonus.
Will I ever be a number one seller – I seriously doubt it. Why? Simply put – I am not a mercenary kind of person.
All of my life I have read and enjoyed a broad mix of literary works.
Granted most of them were written by so-called ‘established writers’, or to put it another way, the chosen few seen as cash cows to be milked mercilessly under contract to one or other of the ‘big six’ publishers to churn out X number of words using formula Y for Z amount of money.
One of my favourite series by a major publisher was the “Gunner Asch” collection of stories written by the German writer Hans Hellmut Kirst. His hapless young German soldier’s adventures and misadventures during World War II gave me hours of immense literary pleasure.
Today due to the phenomena of E-book publishing, some excellent writers ignored for one reason or another by the ‘big six’ are thankfully emerging from among the dross which sadly makes up the great majority currently on offer, via your nearest E-book supplier.
Writers like Derek Haines and David Toft immediately spring to mind. Both write excellent stories. In David’s case, his novels are published by Wings Press a small press publisher, while Derek has gone along the self-publishing route. David writes exciting paranormal thrillers.
Derek writes hilariously funny works of fiction like ‘Hal’, the story of a misfit member of the English aristocracy who find himself in all kinds of trouble on an alien planet.
While I love reading science fiction – I had minor recognition for my space opera “Onet’s Tale” published in 2010, largely thanks to my good friend and editor Gerry and his small press publishing company IFWG – I have finally found my niche in fantasy. I am currently writing an anthology under the working title of “Goblin Tales For Adults”.
Will I make lots of money from the anthology? Who can say? In all honesty, do I really care? Not really. So long as I can still see the screen on my laptop and the keys, I’ll continue to write those stories I have always wanted to read myself, plus write articles and short stories, posting them on my favourite E-zine “Angie’s Diary”, plus write blog posts like this one.
Thanks for the mention in your article Jack. I couldn’t agree more with your opening line. ‘I write the kinds of stories that I would like to read.’ That’s probably why you and I connected.
As you mentioned, I chose the Indie route. For one reason only, and it certainly wasn’t for the money. It was simply the only way I could write and publish what I wanted to write and publish. Will it make me a million bucks? Never.
But it gives me a pleasure worth far more. Knowing that I my odd little stories are read in their ‘unsullied by a pedantic editor who knows how to appeal to the masses’ form. I want my stories in my own voice.
The feedback I get from my readers tell me I have chosen wisely. Although my bank manager would disagree!
Thanks again Jack.
You are spot on!
Thank you Darlene 😀
Cheers Derek, the millions of readers out their need to know about your work, as they do for David. 🙂
A very thought-provoking article!
Thank you Andrea. 😀
Uh, I feel a bit like I’ve just come out of the woods. I wrote first. Once I got some material that seemed good enough the idea of earning money in real life by harnessing at least some of the power of my creative imagination – like wind mills use wind, began to develop. I heeded my mother and kept preparing for a day job as well. Eventually, after over a decade of trying I managed to get paid a second time, and then a third and fourth for writing professionally but mostly not for ‘my own creative work’. After another ten years of trying my big thrill is to finally have a novel being released with a real cover and publisher SBPRA and multiple fits and stops. Two years ago I finally got a booklet released which really has my name on it. The sales needs often make me feel like crying like a girl who has fallen off of her bicycle and is not seriously injured but is hurt and feeling a bit overwhelmed. I am 47 so do not always feel right using ‘kid metaphors’ to describe emotional reactions but sometimes they fit.