Don't forget this important step on your writing journey.

Why do I write? This is a question to which authors/writers have had to find an answer because either their curious fans or interested others have wanted to understand their motivation for writing. Whenever someone poses this question, the answers are swift in coming from some authors/writers.  We hear responses like the following:

1. I write because I have to. There is something in me that forces me to write.

2. I write because writing is therapeutic. It's a way to help me deal with my demons (Okay, I came up with the "demons" part. I'm not sure anybody actually says this, but probably somebody does). But some writers believe that the process of writing helps them to deal with the challenges of their lives.

3. I write because I have a story to tell.

4. I write because writing is my passion. 

5. I write because I want to make money...

We all have our reasons for writing. Some of us do not hesitate when someone asks us to articulate our reason/s for writing. We know exactly why we write. However, some of us have to stop and think about our motivation for writing. Writing is something that we just do. We have never thought seriously about it. That is, we don't spend much time thinking about the intricacies of our motivation/s for writing.

But when we become published authors, more and more people begin to ask us to communicate our reason/s for writing with them. Those of us who think that we are sure of our calling and are certain in our convictions about our writing abilities have no problem articulating our reason/s for writing in many free-flowing words. The rest of us? Well... we have to carefully search for words, because while we are trying to help our questioner to understand our motivation for writing, we are trying to help ourselves to understand our own motivation for this very thing that we do without thinking much about, and this very thing at which we believe that we are more than competent.

The solution to this problem that we who just write,  for the sake of writing and for some other reason that we can't quite pin down with our minds at a moment's notice have, I think, is to sit down and search through the catalogues of our memories for the moments that have triggered our writing. It is in these catalogues that our answers lie, our reason/s for writing. When we manage to pin these down, we should record them. We may just be surprised at what we discover.

So, take a few minutes from your writing schedule to reflect on your reasons for writing. Your fans and other interested parties are keen to hear your answers.

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About the Author

Janette B. Fuller is a teacher and author of three books. Her business is to write stories set in the place she knows best – Jamaica – while also helping writers to write their own stories. When you are ready to write your story, make contact with her @ writingwisdomtree@gmail.com. Check out her books here.