Although our reasons may not be the same, understanding our motives is a powerful thing.
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I’ve always been fascinated with the United States space program from the 1950’s and 60’s. The buildup to Apollo 11’s moon landing in 1969 is one of the most exciting and creative periods in U.S. history. The space program employed hundreds of thousands of workers and was both incredibly complex and brilliantly simple.
It’s fun to think that as a writer, you can simply create something that hasn’t existed before.
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It was simple because there was one goal: put a man on the moon. Yet it was also complex because there was an untold number of details, processes, systems, and personnel that had to be organized and coordinated.
This sounds a little like the writing process to me: simple yet complex. Any writer knows that it’s easy to get lost in the details of writing. Whether you’re writing books, articles, blog posts, marketing copy, speeches, scripts, or something else, you tend to get mentally embedded in whatever you’re working on.
But if you’re a writer, you must keep your main objectives in sight at all times. I can’t tell you what those objectives should be for you, but I can tell you what mine are. In this post, I’ll share the seven reasons why I write, and why they are important to me. These “big picture” items are why I write, and they give me clarity and focus. I hope they will also inspire you to think through your own reasons for writing.
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1. Creativity
I enjoy the creative process of writing. I love creating articles, blog posts, and stories. It’s fun to think that as a writer, you can simply create something that hasn’t existed before. That’s the power of creative writing: saying something that hasn’t been said quite the same way before, or conjuring stories out of thin air.
2. Influence
One of the strangest realities of being a writer is that whenever you write something, it automatically gives you a bit of influence and authority on that topic. Of course, not all writing is good, and not everyone gives automatic respect to a writer. However, it’s generally true that writers enjoy a certain amount of influence simply by virtue of having written something. People assume that if you’ve taken the time and effort to write something, you probably have some level of expertise on the topic.
3. Opportunities
Writing gives me an opportunity to learn about myself and the world around me.
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When you put your work out there for others to read, it will go places you cannot. Others will read your work and grant you opportunities for interviews, more writing, perhaps speaking or consulting, or other ways of serving others and getting your message heard. If you want to build your reputation and get your name out there, I can’t think of any better use of your time than writing.
4. Income
Let me be clear: writing doesn’t automatically lead to income. (In fact, none of the items in this list come automatically.) But it definitely can. You can sell books, but you can also sell products and services that are related to the content of your writing. Over the past year, I have definitely enjoyed seeing those monthly royalty statements from Amazon, as well as other paid work that has come as a direct result of my writing.
5. Learning
Writing gives me an opportunity to learn about myself and the world around me. Case in point: I recently interviewed Matt Charman, screenwriter of Bridge of Spies. That interview happened because I gradually took advantage of the opportunities offered to me through The Good Men Project. Because of consistently writing and editing for GMP, I was able to do the interview. That was a great learning experience, and it wouldn’t have happened any other way than by writing.
6. Message
Writing seems to me the best way to communicate your thoughts, ideas, stories, and values to the generations that will come after you.
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Each of us has a message; each of us has something important to share with the world. Writing, for me, is the best way to cast that message as far and wide as possible. My words will go places I can’t go, and they’ll reach people I will never personally meet. Writing on blogs, websites, and books is the greatest way I know how to communicate my message to the world.
7. Legacy
In a hundred years, what will people remember about you? What will you have created with your life that will outlast you? It’s hard to predict what life will be like in a hundred years, but I’m pretty sure that writing will still be around. Writing seems to me the best way to communicate your thoughts, ideas, stories, and values to the generations that will come after you.
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All through the years leading up to the moon landing, those working in the space program kept one thing in mind: the “moon shot.” Many other beneficial things happened as a result of the space program, but this was the primary goal, the main objective.
When it comes to writing, what is your “moon shot”? What are the key reasons why you write? Share your comments below; I’d love to hear them.
I write for two reasons at this point in my life. The first reason is because of school work; I need to do school work so I need to write. As I learn new things that I will use during my life, so writing is a really good thing for me. Another reason I write is because I like to write about my journey. So I will journal when I am low or if everything is not going well in my life, to record what happens everyday and how I solve my problems to gain experience, I can learn how… Read more »
All the writers would be glad to visit https://silveressay.com/ and find all the great articles.
This was a good read, and thanks for sharing. For me, there are two types of writing I do. One is my own personal stuff, in encrypted volumes on my hard drive that, with certain specific exceptions, no-one will ever see. I do it mostly for myself, to provide context to things that are happening in my life, and allow me to recapture details I may have forgotten years later. I have things I wrote in WordPerfect 3.0 on a PC clone from the early 80s that are a truly amazing snapshot of what was important to me as a… Read more »