Why do we Write?

You have to ask yourself the question: What makes me a Writer?

There are other questions that follow. Why do I write? When did it all begin? Essentially, what makes Writers tick?

Some people write out of pain. Some people write out of joy. Some people write just to see if they can craft a story. But what's in it for us? What are the rewards?

I will never forget Betty Mogus, my second-grade teacher. She was an author. And she had published a children's book (about mushrooms who talked, if I remember correctly). All I can remember is thumbing through her book at the reading table, riveted, fascinated.

I was besotted. "I want to do this," I thought. I want to write.

I began to write for selfish reasons. I was going to make it big, become a household name, and have oodles of money. But as I grew and matured, I wrote for different reasons. In High School, it was because I wanted to give people the same "escape read" that authors had given to me.
When I was a starving college student, I wrote for the money and fame again.

Now, I write for myself. I write because I love that I can create entire worlds and breathe life into characters, (and yes, some small part of me still wants the fame and glory, let's be honest) but I write simply because I can, and it gives me joy.

My Journalism professor in college told me that "great writers always find time to write, every day, even if it is just in a journal." Writing is the writer's life blood. His or her comfort, therapy, joy, pain, source of income, you name it. We are creatures of our pens. We write because we love it, pure and simple.

So, why do YOU write?