I was talking to my
stepmom last week and the conversation turned to my writing. She's
not that interested in fantasy or science fiction, but she tries to
be supportive. She asked me how my work was going. We hadn't talked
about it for a while so I told her the project we'd discussed the
last time we talked about it had a finished first draft and I was
working on a Snow White retelling that I was having fun with.
Then she asked me
when I thought I'd actually get paid for my writing. I told her I was
still waiting to hear back from some e-zines about the short stories
I'd submitted to them. Then I said depending on if I self-pubbed,
went to a small press, or got a publishing contract from the Big 5,
it could be up to two years before it saw print and I saw some money
from the novels. Not to mention I have to finish revising them and
find someone to read through and point out my mistakes.
She said it sounded
like a lot of work for little return. I told her it could seem that
way but for me writing was more than just for money. When she asked
me why I write, I had an answer for her that she didn't understand.
This is what I told
her: I write because I have stories to tell.
I don't mind the
thought of getting paid for it. I've been leaning towards submitting
my writing to different places in the hopes that my stories are well
received by others. And I'd be lying if I didn't say my goal is to
publish. But it's not the money that drives me. It's the need to tell
as many people as possible the stories kicking around in my head.
And I have a lot of
stories.
So, here's a
question for all of you. Why do you write?
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