Why write? More correctly, this is about why I write. I’ll let others state their reasons themselves.
I write because I like to, but, no.
I write because I must. Nope, unless I’m paid, which happens.
I write because it pays well. Ha! And least, not yet.
I will steal from myself. From my Amazon Author’s Page;
“I fell into writing by trying to lose weight. That’s not an obvious career path. I decided to lose weight by bicycling, and figured it would take so much bicycling that I’d be able to cross the continent. So I did. By the time I was done, I’d sent out 15,000 words of emails, which a friend pointed out was more notes than most writers have when they start a book. So I wrote Just Keep Pedaling.“
That proved I could write a book. The next three were because I could write a better book, then books. After that, I was asked to write a book about personal finance – which came out as the Great Recession hit, which was a small impact; followed by two sets of criminal acts against two of my investments, which led to me losing 98% of my net worth and their eventually being found guilty; all of which stressed me out so much that I walked across Scotland where I had a life-changing revelation which meant I had to write another book about that. Whew.
I was writing because writing was the thing to do, not according to a plan. In the midst of that bit of history, I asked a well-known and successful professional writer whether writing one to two thousand words an hour was expected. They stopped walking, turned to look at me, think a bit, and said something like, “No. That’s a skill.”
I guessed I was a writer, by skill if not by passionate desire. A thousand words an hour. I didn’t and don’t fear the blank page. Does it fear me? I hope not.
About then, I began to get paid assignments to write about aerospace, real estate, personal finance, rural living, etc. Very, etc. OK. That made me a paid writer.
If you’ve made it this far, congratulate yourself because here are two main reasons I write. 1) I finally found a forum for collecting ideas and speculations where I could explore and describe the world – without being interrupted. Hecklers come after I am done. 2) I finally realized that my passion is for people and ideas and bringing them together. That includes photography, public speaking, teaching, and consulting, and writing.
Your reasons are undoubtedly different. You may not even be aware of them. That’s fine, as long as you keep writing.
Some write for passion. Fine. Some write for profit, which I consider writing your own lottery ticket with poorer payouts but slightly better chances. Some write because they have something to say. Go ahead, add to the list. It is probably infinite.
On another pragmatic note, writing fits in with my frugal nature. I was frugal by choice. Losing 98% of my net worth made me frugal by necessity. At least I had lots of practice. I’ve seen people spend tens of thousands of dollars on writing spaces, spend thousands on classes and degrees, heard of writers who collect comments from a wide reach to learn what they want to hear about, and enlist editors, proofreaders, agents, illustrators, formaters, etc. That’s a great way to produce something to publish (hire publicists) As Long As You Can Pay Your Bills (#ALAYCPYB). I splurged with my last client so now I have a subscription with Grammarly.
Now, as I start this new blog dedicated to my writing, I realize that others see me as a writer. While visiting a client’s office, one of the brokers joked that maybe I should get the web site, TomTheWriter, and here we are.
I write at home, on inexpensive Chromebooks, type while sitting on IKEA furniture, and trust my instincts about what to write. I can publish for free because self-publishing has changed the world that much. I also hire experts when I need their help and tools, and I can afford it. Professionals are worth their money, especially when they can do something in an hour that would take me a week. Getting their attention, however, well, writers who are spending $15,000 to publish their work get business-minded people’s attention.
I wrote before I was poor. I wrote more after I became poor. Writing doesn’t cost much. Writing can be its own class. Publishing what I’ve written has taught me what matters to readers, editors, agents, and other writers – and taught me how many people do not care about writers or writing. Writing while poor produces filters of who to talk to, about what, and why. The how comes from writing, writing, writing.
Decades ago, there was a rule of thumb I’ve been told that if a writer kept writing, their income would eventually average out to ~$1/word. Cool. I’ve published about three million words, but in the modern world. In the modern world, I’ve been paid as little as free, naturally, or $0.03/word. Three cents a word is not much, but at a thousand words an hour that could be $300/hour. You’ve probably figured out that those assignments didn’t match up.
Real time aside
While typing, a phone scammer called (I answer sometimes), working a publishing scam. This happens a lot. My grins began when she kept calling me Sir Thomas. I didn’t know I was titled. Maybe I should move to England.
Fortunately, the more I work as a writer, the more I make from my writing. It still isn’t enough to pay bills, but evidently, it is enough to attract the attention of scammers.
So, why continue to write?
Writing isn’t only about book sales or dollars per word. Every published piece, even just social media, is another opportunity and advertisement. I think I’ve made more by giving talks than directly by writing. Helping others helps me. Classes can become income. Writing about a topic can become a job working that topic’s industry. Writing can give anyone a louder voice about a topic they care about, or provide those words someone who needs those words.
It is easy to keep writing when someone says something like (paraphrased);
“Thank you. I needed to read those words, written that way, at this time in my life.”
…and I don’t know which words they were referring to. I guess I’ll get back to writing. You see, the characters in my sci-fi sequel are letting me play with the ideas of true diversity and adversity, and who is more alien, someone who looks different or someone who thinks differently. No interruptions, except maybe a scammer.*
* About answering scammers’ calls: After learning a few lessons of what Not to say, I’ve found them to be an interesting foil in developing how to deal with pushy people. Many scammers call with Great Deals where I am asked to give them money so they can make me more money because my books are so valuable. Thanks for the flattery, but if my books are so valuable, then they should give me money rather than me give them money. I’m not very good at it yet, but I am learning more about them, me, and the worth of my work.
tomthewriter.com 
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