stuartforsyth

Mark Twain once said “Write without pay until somebody offers to pay.”

Contained within that simple sentence is a singular truth behind the force that motivates so many of us to write. I’d be very suspicious of anyone who told me they wanted to become a writer for any other reason than just wanting to write. I don’t believe it is a desire for fame or glory that motivates writers. Like so many artistic pursuits it is certainly not the lure of wealth that draws us to take pen to paper. So what are the motivators that get me up early on cold dark mornings while the household still slumbers, that keeps me up well past midnight as I rail against fatigue in order to let the scenes in my head find purchase in the real world?

It is the love of the story as yet untold. It is the almost visceral need to create something that has not yet existed; to breath life into characters and animate them to do extraordinary things. It is the joy of creating worlds and scenes, and of populating and exploring them. It is the sense of confusion which lingers as you walk away from a particularly good writing session amongst the staleness of the real world. It is the sense of invigoration as you begin on a new journey and of sadness as you complete your final revisions and leave behind characters you really care about. It is rewriting, and rewriting, and rewriting until you get it right. It is your editor or partner demanding the next chapter because she wants to know what happens.

Some of us are just lucky enough to go from writer to author along the way.