Top 10 Reasons to Write

If you just want money, there may be easier ways to get it. Writing is hard work. It takes a lot of brain power, focus, and concentration. More than anything it takes the ability not to give up even in the face of lots of rejection. It also requires that you accept, respect, utilize and benefit from criticism.

Yes, you can make money with writing, but working for someone else would be easier for many people, and would probably bring in a lot more money, over time.

Most writers do not get rich, so money is NOT one of my top ten reasons for becoming a writer. I'm so sorry to disappoint people who may think that writing is some kind of get rich quick scheme. It doesn't work that way, especially for fiction writing, which is what I like to do. Most novelists are lucky to get as much as $5000 for their first novel. Creative writing is like a hobby that has the potential of bringing in an income.

So, with no further delays, let's go right on to my top ten reasons for becoming a writer. I'll start with reason #10...

Some people don't get enough exercise. But if you're writing, especially if you're using a keyboard, you know your fingers will be in good shape.

I'm a bit fanatical about keeping a journal -- or writing morning pages -- however you want to look at it. I've photographed some of my journal notebooks -- the pictures are on my lens, My Writing Protection System.

Journal writing is therapeutic. It can help you work out your problems, vent your frustrations, and organize your thoughts. It is also a wonderful way for people of the future to learn about and understand the people of the past. Journal writers of yesteryear helped us learn the minute details of their civilizations and societal concerns. Fascinating stuff!

When you have a dispute with someone, for example, a government official, telling them your complaint isn't nearly as effective as writing it. Your written complaint could be mailed to the official's boss, the state legislators, and the newspapers.

If you hone your writing skills with daily writing practice, you'll be ten times better at doing this than the average citizen.

When you merely state your complaint orally people can later misconstrue what you intended to say and there's no proof of your true intentions. The written word, however, is solid as a rock and clearly represents your perceptions. Your written statements could go a long way to change things in this world!

Moreover, if you get really inspired and ambitious, you could write a novel to bring attention to a huge societal concern. Where would the world be without Orwell's amazing exposé of the New World Order in his classic novel, 1984 or Ayn Rand's best-sellers, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, or the most popular book of the twentieth century, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee?

The cost of greeting cards has skyrocketed while incomes are dropping. Back in the old days people made their own cards and everyone was content with that. Then along came Hallmark and American Greetings, starting with postcard greetings about 100 years ago. Suddenly almost everyone thinks a good greeting card must be purchased at a store.

Not so!

Homemade greeting cards are coming back into style. Chances are you've received a few over the years. As a writer you'll hone your skills to identify and collect imaginative greeting card ideas. Write them in your writer's notebook! You'll also be empowered to write heart-touching poetry that may be just right for someone you love.

Now, for the dark side of writing...

Fiction writers often joke to one another about how they did terrible things to their characters to make them suffer. These writers, who in real day-to-day life, would never harm a fly let alone a fellow human being, take great pleasure in doing terrible things to their fictional characters.

Why? What could be the reason for their odd behavior?

Fictional characters without problems would be boring. The only way to make a fictional character compelling and human is to cause them a lot of pain. Authors injure, harass, torment, and even kill their characters. Yes, it is true. Some even keep count of how many characters they have killed!

But it is quite alright to do it in fiction. In fiction you can do lots of things you would normally never, ever do!

I'm sure most of us are truth tellers... but face it -- a novel is one big lie. It didn't happen. It was all made up.

Well some of us love to make things up. We like creating scenes that didn't happen, people who never lived, and places that have never existed. And we can get away with all this detailed lying and even get paid for doing it.

For you who are compulsive liars (yes, I know you're out there as I've met a few,) you have missed your calling. Forget about telling penny-ante lies to people without any hope of profit. Instead, start writing short stories and novels. I'm sure this will fulfill your urge to lie.

Could it be that there are actually people out there in the world *waiting* to read what you're going to write? I'm sure there are. People are diverse, and enjoy such an amazing range of genres and writing styles, I'm sure there's a subset of humanity anxious to find exactly the type of writing you're capable of producing. Don't hold back!

This may not resonate with all of you, but it means something to me. At one time I wanted to have ten children. I didn't have that many . . . and I always regretted that I didn't get to use up all the very cool names I considered for possible children.

Well, now that I'm writing fiction I can name as many people as I want. My characters have wonderful names, both common and fabricated by me. For example - Raoli is the name of the main character in my first children's novel for children. I made it up. But another book I wrote features four children with more common names: Brianna, Mariah, Micah, and Chantal. I do love names, and so naming characters means a lot to me.

Okay, so now you know for sure I've got some idiosyncrasies!

But consider this: Would you rather have ten characters running around your brain, or ten kittens running around your home? Kittens can be named. If you prefer that experience, go for it!

You'll know you're a writer if you try writing something and, on finishing, experience a rush of excitement about your new work of art. If that feeling grabs you, you're very likely to want to experience it again and again.

A writer's sense of self-esteem is wrapped up in writing. When we don't write we feel unfulfilled. When we make progress with our writing projects, the world feels right again.

Most people don't write just to hide their writing in notebooks and file folders. We do it with the hope of sharing our words with other people.

Of course some of us are shy about sharing our writing, in the beginning. This was certainly true of me. It was very difficult to start showing other people what I'd written. But eventually I got used to the idea that people might like my stories, so I share.

Now it feels good to be able to say "I'm a writer," or "I wrote a novel," or "article writing is my thing." I'm sure that most writers will agree that this is true.