Writing vs Publishing

Or…What’s in it for me?

Journal Entry (4.6.23)

This morning I spent several hours working on a blog post. Will I increase views or subscribers by posting each week? Maybe a few. Will I make tons of money or sell hundreds books for my efforts. Not likely. SO WHY AM I SPENDING MY TIME WITH THIS???

Because I enjoy it! It is fun to put together a story with words and pictures. I learned a new way to upload photos today. I remembered a story about my grandma and a hill of daffodils. Someone said that you know you are passionate about something when you are doing it and you lose all sense of time.

That’s what happens when I write!

(I drew a big heart here, right on my journal page, with a bright red marker. Because I love my markers. Its a kindergarten thing. Remember when we used to call them Magic Markers but now they are just markers? How did they lose their magic? That’s a story for another time…)

Writing vs Publishing

Was I excited when my story appeared in the Oro Valley Writer’s Forum Anthology? When I first sold my first story to a local magazine, didn’t I go to the newstand and pick up a dozen copies to give to friends and family? Did I celebrate when I published my first book on Amazon, and don’t I check to each morning to see if that little sales graph has gone up overnight?

Yes, yes, and yes. I’ll be honest with you, the allure of publishing is a huge motivating factor. There is nothing like holding your published book in your hand or seeing your words in a magazine article.

But my friends, I’m here to tell you that there is more to writing than that. Much more.

Writing turns out to be its own reward.

Consider this:

“If you want to write, practice writing. Practice it for hours a day, not to come up with a story you can publish, but because you long to learn how to write well, because there is something that you alone can say. -Ann Patchett

“If you don’t enjoy the process, if your primary motivation is the end result, you might want to consider whether you love writing, or simply love the fantasy of having written. -Nephele Tempest

“I just try to warn people who hope to get published that publication is not all that it is cracked up to be. But writing is. That thing you had to force yourself to do-the actual act of writing-turns out to be the best part. ….The act of writing turns out to be its own reward. -Anne Lamott

And so, my friends. I encourage you to embrace your passion. Throw yourself wholeheartedly into your writing. Play with words, paint the story, lose track of time so that you have to be given a five minute warning or else you’ll write through dinner time. Write your heart out and the rest will come to you in it’s own time and in it’s own way. I promise.

Here are some further thoughts on why writers write:

https://seamslikeastory.com/why-write-here-are-5-good-reasons/