Here’s something to think about; it got me thinking, at least. 

Why do writers write? 

I don’t know why, but this question just sort of came to me today… and now I can’t stop thinking about. I mean, even when I ask myself why I write, I have to stop and think about it for a bit. 

There has to be a reason, though… right? 

So, yeah, I did what anyone else would do with a difficult question to answer… I Googled it. 

And, in no particular order, here’s a list of the reasons I found popping up the most frequently:

• To teach/educate 
• To help others
• For expression 
• To entertain 
• To persuade 
• To share experiences 
• To communicate ideas 
• To inspire others/spread creativity 
• For fame/recognition 
• To ‘leave a mark in the world’

And my favorite…

• ‘Because I have to and it hurts if I don’t’ 

So… I think it’s safe to say that there’s not just one big reason that every writer shares as his/her motivator… but, I also think that there’s a few that many writers share and are worth talking about. 

Like, for one, to share experiences.

I get this one, and I think most story writers will get it, too, because sharing experiences is sharing stories. Especially if you’re sharing a true personal story, your motivation is to get the word out about your story. And, if you’re writing a fictional piece, then you’re still fighting to share your own story, because it’s a story you created in your own mind. In that case, it’s also probably laced with some type of experience that you’ve had yourself, or can relate to yourself, whether you realize it or not. Or, maybe you’re even writing to share a common experience that many people have, or would like to have, such as a romantic story between two average people, or a funny, adventurous story about a group of office coworkers going on a business trip gone wrong… but wrong in a good way, if you know what I mean. 

Or, maybe you’re writing to help others… or entertain others. 

I kind of lumped those two together because I just kind of naturally relate them in my mind. I know you could be writing to physically help someone learn to do something… like a how-to book and such… but, I want to focus more on how you can help people by entertaining them. 

People go through… crap (keeping it clean here!) everyday. We all know that. It’s also well known, then, that the best way to escape that crap is to be entertained. And reading books and hearing stories, at least the last time I checked, is entertainment. So, in turn, you could definitely write an awesome book, poem, blog post… what have you, and provide someone else with an escape from whatever their ‘crap’ is for a short amount of time. And that, as I strongly believe, is most definitely helping someone. 

And, if none of the above applies to you, then maybe you just write because you have to. 

I understand that, too. Sometimes, we can’t really pinpoint why we do something… we just know we have to do it. Sure, you might go through the list above and think ‘well, yeah, I guess I kind of do it for that… and that… and even that… but, it’s not the reason I do what I do.’ That’s okay; a ton of writers are the exact same way… one of them even being the girl sitting at the keyboard on the other side of your screen (me). There doesn’t have to be an answer for everything, as much as it may bug some of us, and there just doesn’t have to be something that makes you jump out of bed every day and say, ‘wow! I’m so motivated to write a story today and share it with people so that I make them entertained!’ And, honestly, I kind of hope nobody does that every day… 

So, there you have it. Some answers are given… and some kind of aren’t. But, whatever; what matters is that if you’re a writer, you do you and you do you happily. 

Let me know why you write in the comments!

So… why did I write this blog post? 

-iKari