15 November 2011

why write?

We owe you guys a post, so here goes. Behind the scenes, we continue to labor on the upcoming excellent November 30, 2011 Issue of Electric Spec. Mostly we're editing stories right now. Everything's coming along well. We are excited to share the issue with you at the end of the month.

But somewhere in there I got to wondering, why do people write stories? George Orwell in his famous essay "Why I Write" gave multiple reasons:

  1. Sheer egoism.
  2. Aesthetic enthusiasm.
  3. Historical impulse.
  4. Political purpose.

Obviously, we're not all Orwell. :)
I've often heard authors say "I write because I can't not write." Being a writer is really the only vocation one can toil at for years with little or no financial compensation. I guess that makes it an avocation! Why do I write? I'm still pondering that one...

How about you? Why do you write?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I write because I've never been able to not write. Ever since I realized I had a talent for it back when I was hand-scrawling half-page fantasy stories in second grade, my mind has been a never ending whir of ideas, and if I don't get them down on paper, they get into the ventilation system or gum up the works, and I have enough trouble keeping things straight without four-headed dragons that have fur and breathe molten lead gnawing on my mental to-do list.