THE Group for Authors! discussion

I write a monthly column for our local newspaper. My April topic is going to be since there are SO many books on the market, why do I continue to write?

I sold old VHS movies and records at a used book store and got $5! But I was shocked to see how many used books were in the store - stacks and stacks! There are so many authors, it almost seems futile. Yet I keep writing.

It was different than a library because there were hundreds on the floor waiting to be shelved. A chaotic view.

My question for you, knowing all this, is why do you continue to write books? Articles? What motivates you, even when the competition is so fierce. Even if you may not get published?

If you have a comment, please reply by March 24th. If I have space, and if it fits the topic, I will use it with your first name and city/state. I publish them on my website, too. If I use your quote, I'll email you a link when it's published. (Make sure I have that!)

Thanks for writing.

Liz Thompson

My motivation in writing my first book was my desire to achieve wellness. A Spiritual/Speculative/Inspirational Fiction Novel, The Moon Sage Theosophies is a Metaphysical exploration and journey to wellness through an Alternate/Parallel zone in the Temperate Rainforest. What it really is a walk down the path from mental illness to mental wellness... In the Light of the Full Cold Moon was never written with the intention to become a best seller, but rather to reach those who could benefit from the information that it contained...and for those who did read it, that is exactly what they reported that it has done for them, to quite a significant degree...mission accomplished...this encourages me to continue with book two in the Moon Sage Theosophies series which should be out between late Spring and early Summer of this year [email protected] Sue, Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada

I've shared the experience of being perplexed by all the used books littering shelves, even in thrift stores; and browsing the endless supply of new released on websites and blogs. It seems the world has enough books, why write another to add to the excess? Especially when there is little chance of making a splash in the over-saturated book market.

My answer as an author is simple: I continue to write books because it is a creative drive inside of me that demands expression. There are stories that simmer within and insist on being cooked fully and set out for the feast. Whether they get consumed and appreciated is outside my control, even though I do make marketing efforts. Having done the best I can to write a compelling story with engaging characters and a sense of purpose, the ultimate outcome is in the hands of "the fates."

In the end, it appears I am writing mostly for myself. To fulfill an inner drive, to express my creative abilities. I certainly hope others will read and enjoy my books, and am working to get them noticed. But, writing the book itself is the most important thing.

Leonide, Silverton, OR

Leonide wrote: "I've shared the experience of being perplexed by all the used books littering shelves, even in thrift stores; and browsing the endless supply of new released on websites and blogs. It seems the wor..."

Well said and I agree. What is your email address? Unless you don't necessarily need to know when it's published? You can always check my website (on my profile).

Thank you.

Susan wrote: "My motivation in writing my first book was my desire to achieve wellness. A Spiritual/Speculative/Inspirational Fiction Novel, The Moon Sage Theosophies is a Metaphysical exploration and journey to..."

Thank you, Susan. My first book was written to help me, in a way, and then to help others going through the same things. A newspaper editor told me once, when I said it was so much fun being a reporter that I'm surprised I'm paid - "It's amazing that people pay us because we can string words into a sentence!" A book is a lot more sentences than a newspaper story and often we don't get paid!

as a kid, once a week I would head down to the book store for a portal into another world. from the humor of Craig Shaw Gardner to the horror of Brian Lumley to the classics like James Blish, every week I'd get to tour an exotic location and imagine another life. I suppose to be honest I just want to give that experience to someone else.

Jim wrote: "as a kid, once a week I would head down to the book store for a portal into another world. from the humor of Craig Shaw Gardner to the horror of Brian Lumley to the classics like James Blish, every..."

Thanks, Jim. Watch my website for publication. Cartoonist, wow - such talent.

Elizabeth wrote: "I write a monthly column for our local newspaper. My April topic is going to be since there are SO many books on the market, why do I continue to write?

I sold old VHS movies and records at a use..."

Hi Elizabeth,

Why do I write? Because if I don’t, it feels as if part of myself has checked out. It’s as important to me as food. It is food, the word like a communion wafer that melts on my tongue, nourishing body and soul. It’s also like having a lover that never loses his attractiveness, always beckoning on the fringes of my days, waiting to embrace me.

Writing itself is a mysterious act. Putting symbols on a page not only connects us with our own inner worlds but also with others. It’s the ultimate act of communion, as intimate in its way as sexual union. It’s amazing how letters generate other letters, combining into words that lead us out of ourselves and articulate the wonders of this planet.

Perseverance? Is that what it takes to keep writing in the face of adversity and rejection and lack of recognition? The word sounds so duty bound, so driven. To me, a better word is discipline because at the root is disciple. Yet there are many lovely variations on this word that I actually prefer: student, follower, learner, devotee.

I’m devoted to following the intricacies of language and where it takes me. I’m ardent about words and what they evoke in our minds and imaginations, the worlds they create. And I’m constantly learning, a student of the writer’s craft, eager to open myself each day to the endless possibilities this calling presents.

Some thoughts ...
I still remember the joys of rootling through the secondhand book shop beside the railway bridge in town, hunting for a Georgette Heyer novel that I didn't already have (since they were out of print). Sheer joy to find one and hold it close in my tight paws until I got it safe home. Then off to my room to abandon myself to it. It was a ticket to another world.
Publishing has changed. If you think there are a lot of printed books lying around, you should see the staggering number of self-published books on Amazon KDP and how many writers rejoice in getting even a a few page reads or selling one copy. Today, you can publish anything with no effort at all; or you can labour like Tolstoy for years over your grand opus and publish at around the same price!
I'm one of the authors who got an agent but alas! not a publisher. I had all but given up on the idea of being a writer. Five years later, I put the same book out on KDP and sold 10,000 ebooks but only a handful of paperbacks. The sales diminished, of course, and now I'm back to still getting a thrill when I see someone has bought one, or see by the page reads that someone is actually reading one now.
Even this moderate success is far from what I imagined when I first put my baby on the stage. And for some, that starry-eyed dream that their novel will be the runaway bestseller is what drives them through the grind of finishing a novel and getting it out there in front of the public. For others, it's the unseen bond with a total stranger that is created between author and reader, when someone reads your work and gets it ... or even better, loves it.
While sales were high, it was presenting to a large audience. But as they dwindled, I actually started to feel more of an individual connection with the lone purchase or watching the page reads progress and see someone start slowly and then read the latter half in one sitting. A couple of readers even volunteered to read my final draft, and now they are my friends. Despite the competition, and if only a handful of people had shared my imagined world, all the graft would have been worth it. Readers' positive feedback certainly kept bringing me back to the desk to complete the sequel when I wanted to give up.
AL Kennedy called writing a collaboration. We authors capture what's in our heads in words. Black on white. It has no substance until the reader recreates the people and the world inside their own head. It's a kind of miracle. No images provided ... only words, yet their imagined movie of your book will have scenery, props and characters fashioned by them from just words. We provide the script, but they make the movie.
Since I had promised a series, and readers had already created the world and the characters and were waiting to create the next movie, that was a bid stimulus to keep going when it got tough.
So, there are 7 billion people on the planet, and there's a good chance that at least one of those people will connect with your story. Now, with KDP and other epublishing sites, you can get your novel out there at the push of a button, rather than the tortuous lottery of getting published in the traditional way. So the 'even if you may not get published' challenge has evaporated. The competition is still there, but thankfully, that drives a modicum of rigour in striving for quality.

Elizabeth wrote: "I write a monthly column for our local newspaper. My April topic is going to be since there are SO many books on the market, why do I continue to write?

I sold old VHS movies and records at a use..."

There is an old saying "One man's meat is another man's poison", and I think that applies to all these books. As a boy I read and laughed at "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K Jerome, and yet a few days ago a reader gave it 3 Stars!
The moral is don't throw the books away.
Read and enjoy,
Adam Mann
https://www.amazon.com/author/adamman...

I just wanted to write some of my reflections on alternative society issues, and females who like the sweet science of fighting . . . a bit of an enigma to someone who's been brought up to open doors for 'em . . . .

I write because I can!

Zaman wrote: "Everyone write with different motivation. Some write it for being an author and some write it for money and so on but that doesn't matter because you now Elizabeth writing is about contributing som..."
Thank you, Zaman. I agree and am encouraged by everyone's comments that we should just keep writing! Of course, I wasn't going to stop because it's part of who I am and spreading positive words is always a good idea.

Rita wrote: "I write because I can!"

Yes, indeed.

I wrote my first story, actually the last chapter of a book we read for a class in college, because I hated the ending and thought I could do better. I had to prove to myself that I really could.

I wrote my first novel when I was laid off from my job and had, for the first time in memory, time on my hands. The ideas for stories have always been kicking around in my head, but I needed something to fill the time and the writing did the trick. At that time, in 1993, publishing the book was impossible, but my wife paid to have it self-published as an anniversary present -- 8 years later.

Since then I have jotted down story ideas as they have occurred -- I've written a screenplay, several short stories, and finally wrote and self-published my second novel recently, since it is so very easy now to self-publish. The recent book was ten years in the making, and I'm working on two or three other stories now.

Why? Do I think I'm ever going to make money as an author? No. It's so hard to find an audience. I write for myself, my friends, and with the eternal hope that someone, somewhere, will read the story and enjoy it and find that it adds something to their lives. It gives me pleasure to write and it's a release and distraction from the day-to-day work that otherwise takes up my time. I look forward to retirement someday when I have the time to devote much more time to the writing and don't have to pick it up and put it down so much. I expect that it will keep me alive and intellectually engaged for many more years, whether anyone reads them or not. But I hope somebody reads them.

Rita wrote: "I write because I can!"

Spot on, Rita.

Liz, if you need a picture with your column, let me know. I have a perfect pic. that shows a drop of water on an ocean, depicting a new book and how it is lost in the vastness of it all. LOL

I true writer has this blood strain running through him or her. I must write, and I even wake in the middle of the night to pen down a thought that comes to me, or risk losing an amazing idea for a story or a book. [ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unusua... ]

Along with stories I craft, I also write poems, as I am at times moved by the world around me, and feel I must share my thoughts on the subject.

Holidays and special occasions sometimes bring out my stories and poems as well. See my well known 'wedding poem' here -

"Snowflake and the Heart"

Like a snowflake, a heart can melt
From a cheery smile or a sweet hello.
The snowflake falls from skies above;
The heart as often falls in love.

You’ll never find two flakes alike.
A pair of hearts to share one life.
The snowflake’s tender - it can break,
As does the heart in love’s embrace

And nothing’s softer than a snowflake falling,
Or sweeter than when love comes calling.
As snowflakes build a winter scene,
As two hearts join - nothing in between.

Cheers, I hope this helps, Don Greywolf Ford

Thanks for all your "well written" responses! I have been able to glean something from most of the comments for my column. Please check my website, listed with my profile when you click my photo, closer to mid-April where it will be posted.

Don, I love that poem. Thank you!

I write because something deep inside me demands to be let loose. I don't do it to compete with anyone either. It's like giving birth to children. Just because other people have children and the world is getting over-populated doesn't stop people wanting to have children or even conceiving unawares when they are fertile. Sometimes writing satisfies a deep hunger inside of me. I write for myself, just like I eat for myself. No-one else can do it for me and the fact that other people are full won't stop me eating when I am hungry. That's why I write.

Elizabeth wrote: "Jim wrote: "as a kid, once a week I would head down to the book store for a portal into another world. from the humor of Craig Shaw Gardner to the horror of Brian Lumley to the classics like James ..."
:)

I think it’s the best way to share an idea,experiences or story that matters.

I don’t know why I write, but writing about why and how and when I should write is way easier than actually writing.

The word “should” figures prominently in my struggle with writing. I should write, longer and better. I shouldn’t stop when I fill that first wave of despair, or fear, or disgust, or shame, or the What-does-it-matter-nothing-that I-write-really-matters-in-the-end blues.

Do I just write to get attention? I check my review and books sales webpages every day, hoping that there might be some small sign that someone is actually reading my books or has taken the time to write a review, even if it’s just one word “bad.”

But if I get a good review, I feel a little rush for a moment, then I start to critique the reviewer’s review. If I get a bad review, it’s pretty devastating. I feel all that self-doubt is pumped up to maximum volume.

If only I could turn off my inner critic. If only writing could be fun again.

The only person in charge of that turn-off button is me. But I’m don’t think I’ll turn it off.

I’ll let it play and continue to write anyway.

I didn't see your comment till just now and somehow didn't get an email that it was here.

The inner critic is hopefully the most honest one. The first time I had my column printed in 1998, I felt that rush. I was published and sent a positive message to the community. Now 19 years later, I still get a quiet rush when I see it in the paper. Even better is when I get an email commenting on the topic. It used to be snail mail, and that was even more important to me - they took the time to hand write a note to me, spend money on a stamp, and drop it in a mailbox.

My column was finished prior to seeing your comment, so you are not in there. Not because what you said isn't important! Watch for it in the next two weeks on either thisweeknews (dot) com or my website listed with my name.

Keep writing!

My column is now posted online in two places: my website: www.daybydayliz.com and the newspaper: http://www.thisweeknews.com/news/2017...

Thank you for your input!

I feel that some less committed writers will eventually fall by the wayside. It won't always be this crowded.

Kevin wrote: "...I write for myself, my friends, and with the eternal hope that someone, somewhere, will read the story and enjoy it and find that it adds something to their lives..."

I totally agree Kevin. When you write, you never know who your words are going to touch. They might create a subtle change in someone's thinking or could even transform their life forever. Joy