3 Reasons to Write that Have Nothing to Do with Publishing
In first grade we had a project where we illustrated different things we wanted to be when we grew up. The only two I remember from my assignment were author and model. (And I only put down model because Nora did, and I haven’t thought about that career path since. So.) Throughout my school years I submitted articles to small magazines, entered writing contests, and started a personal blog. In college I wrote countless essays, submitted some of them for student journal publication, and interned in various publication sectors, writing and editing my way through. My entire life, I’ve felt a pull from the stories we write and read, and I’ve always wanted to be a part of it.
Maybe you’re the same way. Maybe you’ve been drawn to story and writing since you could read a book. Maybe you took a creative writing class in high school and your brain never turned off. Maybe consuming stories was your soft place to land in a time of heartache. If you’re here, right now, something about the stories we write and share is calling to you.
But I have a secret: Getting published isn’t the point. I know, I know. The internet holds innumerable spaces for writers wanting to get published. It’s the dream, right? The goal, the end-all be-all of writing—right? The publishing industry itself is a complex network of gatekeepers that you think you have to impress to be a “real” writer. Seeing your book on the shelves of Barnes & Noble is a dream that fills you with excitement. And that’s okay—you should feel excited when you think of holding a real, bound book with your name on the cover. But that’s not why you should write it.
Write to exercise your creativity
That feeling when you craft your thought in just the right way. When you spend hours diddling on one section, throw up your hands in frustration, go to get a snack, sit back down, and you nail it. Writing exercises my creativity in a way that nothing else does (for me). I wonder if coders feel the same thrill when they find just the right combination of numbers and symbols to create just the right effect, or if an artist experiences the same elation when she paints the light just right. If I never knew that I’d never be published ever, I think I’d still write. At the risk of sounding cliche, writing brings me alive.
Write to understand deeper
When I write, that first draft is most often a far cry from what it looks like in the final draft. Part of that is the creativity component of discovering the right combination of words, but most of it is exploring my ideas and conclusions. Even this blog post has several paragraphs that I wrote and deleted because as I explored this concept, I realized that I wanted to say something different. Writing slows your brain down enough to think and allows you to spend intentional time inside your own head. Writing opens the way for a unique way of processing and healing
Write to connect
More than communicating, writing is connection: connection with self, with others, with whatever higher power you seek. As you write, you’ll connect more with who you are and learn how to better connect with those around you. Even if no one other than you reads what you write, your words still forged connection. Whenever I finish writing something, I walk away feeling more grounded and aware of my world. Regardless of publication, your words have the power to connect. Connection on even the smallest scale is meaningful.
Is it thrilling to see your name in print? Absolutely. Is it the only measure of success in writing? Not by a long shot.
If you’re wondering how to look past the publication pedestal, you might be interested in my audio course, Live Like a Writer. In this short and sweet resource, you’ll learn how to see yourself as a writer and how to shift your thoughts to better create, understand, and connect with your words.
