{"id":34488,"date":"2017-08-14T06:30:57","date_gmt":"2017-08-13T18:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=34488"},"modified":"2017-07-26T12:45:55","modified_gmt":"2017-07-26T00:45:55","slug":"why-i-write-reprised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2017\/08\/14\/why-i-write-reprised\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Write, Reprised"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I’ve already touched on this topic twice this year, most recently (on to honor the 200th anniversary of my US publisher, HarperCollins, via #hc200):<\/p>\n

Why I Write<\/a><\/p>\n

That piece referenced another post from earlier this year, on March 6:<\/p>\n

Why Write<\/a><\/p>\n

Clearly, you may say, the topic is much on my mind!<\/p>\n

However, I’m reprising it today because recently a reader, Chris, wrote to me via my website, as follows:<\/p>\n

“I love your books and don’t want you to stop writing. But after reading about what a slog it can be, both for you and other authors, I do wonder why you keep going? I mean, it sounds really tough.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Excellent question, Chris—and one I not infrequently ask myself! Because it can be tough, very tough even, which is why I decided to make my reply a public one, for any others who may be wondering the same thing.<\/p>\n

Like most such questions, there is no one-dimensional answer.\u00a0 However, here are some of the more relevant permutations:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I love reading and stories and I have always wanted to tell them myself.
    \n.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Not only that, but as I said on March 6 and reiterated on May 29, I want to tell great stories—tales that capture something of\u00a0 “the ache” of our human existence, as well as taking people out of themselves and whatever may be going on in their everyday lives, for the time that they read. If striving to get there (since arrival is a point that ultimately only readers can decide upon) means going toe to toe with the story for months on end and being handed my writing derriere on a regular basis, then so be it.
    \n.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. In terms of the WALL series, I am under contract to my publishers to deliver the book so there is<\/em> that. But even if there were no contractual obligation, I would still feel honour bound to persevere and complete the story in order to keep faith with the series’ readers. In both cases, refer back to the final sentence under 2. \ud83d\ude42
    \n.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. However, another reason why I keep writing—one that feels more important than ever in the current times—is that if I can do it well, it is a way of putting something good into the world. Adding to the positives, so to speak, which is something that motivates me. And although there are—of course—many ways of doing so, good storytelling is<\/em> a positive in many peoples’ lives. And writing and storytelling is something I can<\/em> do (whereas I fear I’d never make a surgeon, for example!)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Would I like to make oodles of dosh and be as famous as JK Rowling? Of course, who wouldn’t! But—big “but”—it’s not why<\/em> I write.<\/p>\n

    As for the process being tough, along with everything else comprised in that final sentence under 2, I am mindful of advice that I believe originated with Confucious (or at least, he wrote it down):<\/p>\n

    “The way is easy, keep going; the way is hard, keep going: keep going.”<\/em><\/p>\n

    So that’s why you may be sure that I will keep plugging away until the book is not only a manuscript with”the end” typed on the final page, but comprises something approximating Coleridge’s “right words in their right order.”<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I’ve already touched on this topic twice this year, most recently (on to honor the 200th anniversary of my US publisher, HarperCollins, via #hc200): Why I Write That piece referenced another post from earlier this year, on March 6: Why Write Clearly, you may say, the topic is much on my mind! However, I’m reprising […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-what-im-doing","category-about-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34488"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34676,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34488\/revisions\/34676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}