Why Do People Want to Be Writers?

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So why do writers write?

• ​Is it about the money? The average writer makes about $67,120 (Occupational Outlook Handbook 2020).  Not bad, but certainly not enough to make one wealthy.

• Is it about status? In my experience, writers are not held in high esteem in America where I live. 

• Is it about purpose? Are some people born to be writers?​

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When I was about twelve years old, my aunt gave me a book that was about the Civil War. The writer so eloquently described the pitched battles between the blue and the gray that would often continue until dusk. The artillery guns traded insults with each other until all their shells were depleted. I devoured that book because I felt like I was right there on the battle scene. 

I have siblings who brought home several books that filled the bookshelf in the hallway of our apartment. There were medieval stories of Roland who fought for King Charlemagne. There was also a book about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. I loved reading about their jousts on horseback. 

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I also enjoyed the works of Richard Wright and James Baldwin, who wrote about the racial struggles of African Americans in the 1900s.  Agatha Christie was a great mystery writer, and there were many other literary works that resided on those shelves. 

Stephen Crane wrote "The Red Badge of Courage" in 1895, a novel about the Civil War, even though he was born after the war ended. His storytelling mastery was astounding, and it kept me captivated. 

I have no idea how my family acquired those books, but I am grateful we had them. 

These days I fantasize about sitting on some cafe patio with my laptop in an exotic country busily working on my literary masterpiece that my publisher is bugging me to finish. The golden sun is setting in the Western sky and the silhouette of a young couple who are gazing out over the ocean looks like an oil painting. Next time I'll bring my DSLR camera. 

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I always felt that I was destined to do something with the written word. For me, writing fiction stories provides an escape into another world. It always has been therapeutic for me.  I have dabbled with short story writing on and off through most of my life, but something always seemed to get in the way of my pursuing writing full time as a profession. Nevertheless, the desire to write never went away. Over the years, I have been asked by some people, "why did you choose to be a writer? Do you know how hard that is?" I'm always perplexed as to why someone would ask me such questions. 

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After I pondered for a while, I realized that I never chose writing; it chose me. It's in my DNA. It's like asking a horse why it chose to be a horse, or why a dog why it chose to be a dog. It's just who I am. Why else would I sit alone for hours punching a bunch of words into a computer that possibly no one will want to read, except me?

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So why do writers write? Maybe they don't have a choice. Maybe it's a calling.