Your Motivation for Writing

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve posted a lot recently on writing for an audience and writing to genre conventions.  As I’ve posted, there’s been a little uneasiness on my end…because some writers don’t need to worry about these things.  There are writers out there that will only be unnecessarily strung-out by this advice.  These are also writers who might feel really stressed out by forums and blog posts focused on heavy marketing.

There are plenty of other reasons to write and there is nothing wrong with writing for your own enjoyment.  Some writers would rather their work and their names remain private.  Some writers would rather craft a story exactly as they want it and create their story world as they wish and not have to worry about anyone else. And there are, sure, writers who want to share their work.  I’ve mentioned before that I was foisting my writing on my parents’ unsuspecting dinner guests back when I was in elementary school.  We’re all wired differently.

I think that it would be incredibly demotivating to read posts urging you to write faster, write to an audience, run ads, and promote when your only interest is in pleasing yourself with writing a story for your own satisfaction.

But I also wonder if some writers haven’t really completely thought through what they want.  If they truly want to put their work out there for a broad audience. Or, if they even want to publish their work at all. Maybe, after reading all the online commentary about the writing craft, reaching an audience, book cover design, and advertising, they just blindly start moving in that direction.

Of course, there’s no wrong answer.  No wrong direction to take.  But I do think it’s important to think about what you want.  When I saw this fairly comprehensive quiz on Colleen M. Story’s Writing and Wellness blog, I thought it was a great place to start. Not only may it help guide writers into thinking about motivation-related questions, but it can also help writers realize what does drive them.  Some of the listed motivations include achievement and recognition, creative fulfillment and transcendence, and connection and relationships.

Knowing what you want out of your writing means that you may not need to bury yourself in learning about crafting the best BookBub pitch or an amazing query letter.  It can help you stay focused on whatever is important to you about the writing craft.

As a writer, what motivates you to write (I think the answer is slightly different for everyone)?

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