Why Write?

This is the question that I've been asking myself. I've been trying to build a writing career for years, and so far it has cost me far more than it has made. Very few writers make a living by writing. Most use writing to supplement their income or invest in writing as a promotional tool for other services that they offer, such as conferences.

So here I am, a writer by birth, still asking the question, "Why should I even try?"

There are two answers. First, I can't not write. I've tried a hundred times. I've really tried to give up. It's a very painful thing to face the rejection and disappointment that comes from failed attempts at a writing career, so I have tried to work "regular jobs" and put away all hopes of writing. But then I find myself behind a keyboard, desperately working on something that just has to get out. Sometimes I share it. Sometimes it gets published. Sometimes it never sees the light of day. But it always gets written. Why? I just have to write. It's how God wired me. 

Do I wish that He had wired me to be content in a steady paying job with insurance and no desire to write?

 

Yep. 

Did He ask me? 

Nope.

The second answer is a little less practical and far more romantic. There's just something divine about the written word. It's practically immortal. Even if my words are only read by a handful of people, that conversation becomes a permanent part of their story. It may not be a highlight. They may not even remember the experience, but it never ceases to be a part of who they are. That's a huge responsibility, and that's an immense privilege! 

Consider it for a moment. When I read Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, I am thinking the same thoughts that William Shakespeare thought in 1599. Now whenever I hear the word honorable, I think of Antony's speech. ("For Brutus is an honorable man.") It shapes how I respond to the world around me. It changes me.

I will never have the ability or notoriety of William Shakespeare. (And that's okay because I'm still much happier than he ever was.) But I can impact other people through writing. 

It may never make me a dime, but through the written word, I get to be a part of other people's lives, and if I'm very faithful and very blessed, I may just have the immense privilege of drawing other people closer to Christ.

So that's why I write.