Why I Write

Back in October 2016 I was lucky enough to write a guest post on the wonderful blog of Kathy Cecala! A fantastic blog full of wit, wisdom and humour.

I think that it is safe to say that today there are more writers than at any other time in history. Between free blogging sites, and self-publishing sites it seems that you can’t swing a cat these days without hitting a writer of some kind and that is wonderful.

The sharing of ideas and opinions helps us all grow as people and as a society. Whether you write stories, opinion pieces or factual ‘how to’ manuals there has never been a better time to get your words out to such a wide and varied audience.

The only thing that hasn’t gotten easier has been finding motivation or inclination to write.

Finding the time to write, between work or school, raising a family and life, in general, can be tricky. But even when you find that small segment of time it can still be difficult, how do you put your ideas, thoughts, and feelings into words? We can all struggle with this until we remember why we started to write. Usually, when we remember why we started it becomes easier to go on.

So today I am going to share the reasons I started to write, in the hope that it will encourage others to start or continue on their own journey. There are lots of small, ineffectual things occurring on any given day that will cause me to write. But the three, main, most consistent reasons that I write are as follows.

The first and strongest reason is because writing allows me to share, with the world, my (hopefully) unique, absurd and occasionally insightful views on the world around me and the fields I meddle/work in. I like to hope that my outpouring of (again hopefully) constructive ramblings help and inform and/or amuse and entertain others. It helps me feel connected, to know that I can, by sitting at a laptop and sharing my own experiences, touch the lives of people around me, both close to home and those hundreds of miles away.

My second reason is a little more self-centered; I’m utterly and hopelessly in love with the idea of ‘the story teller’. The old wizened man/woman sitting at the table sharing tales with the younger generation. I have this romanticized notion of the storyteller, sitting in a warm log cabin or cottage, in the snow-covered wilderness, with a fire crackling, a dog at my feet and a cat in my lap. I know in reality you need none of these things to write and tell stories but this image has never left my mind since it first took root all those years ago when I picked up my first book and fell in love. I know that even if I become a best seller I will never feel like I have ‘made it’ until I sit in my log cabin or cottage in the snow and write (the log fire and the pets are optional extras, much desired but not necessary).

My last reason is perhaps my best one, and that is to teach. While writing stories is my passion, what puts bread on my table is my work in the legal profession. I work as a legal consultant for local firms and for years I looked for a way to combine my two loves, the English Legal System (yes, I know, I’m a big nerd; I totally own this so that makes it cool … right?) and writing. It was the senior partner in one of my firms who solved this for me, with a simple question “Why don’t you write law books, Kate?” After slapping myself a few hundred times for not thinking of this myself I got started. I now write Step-by-Step guides to the legal process, I help guide you through the convoluted (I love the legal system so it’s ok for me to call it names but if you do it then I might cry) legal process and help you reach a satisfying and fair conclusion. I teach people how to do for themselves and I enjoy every moment of it.

So, in conclusion, my reasons for writing are simple, I write for you, but I also write for me. Writing helps me make sense of and feel satisfied with my life. I recommend taking the time to consider what it is that makes you want to write if you’re not sure that’s o.k., your reason is there you just haven’t identified it yet and that’s all part of the fun.

Happy writing!

I hope you enjoied!

You might also like: What Motivates You?