I am lucky to have met and become friends with some great people because of writing. People I doubt I would have met otherwise. It is people like this who inspire me to keep pushing through when things get tough — and they do get tough sometimes. I’ve always thought the quote below by Kwame Kwei-Armah summed up writers well.
‘We don’t write because we want to, we write because we have to’.
Writing is not something you necessarily do because you ‘fancy it’. A short foray into writing will soon sort out that misconception. Writing is something you do regardless of the frustrating blocks and dead ends that crop up repeatedly. You do it because, despite being plagued by self-doubt and fear, you feel an irresistible compulsion to write — whether poetry, short stories, novels, film, or blogs.
If this resonates with you, then you are not someone who wants to be a writer, you are a writer. I’m not saying you’re a great writer…yet, but if you have felt compelled to complete a draft of a novel or script, short stories or a collection of poems, you are already a writer.
It doesn’t matter whether you have been published or produced or if your completed work is hidden at the back of a drawer. You are a writer. Stand up wherever you are and say ‘my name is (insert your name here) and I am a writer’. Own your identity as a writer. Now sit back down before you get thrown off the bus or tube or out of that café that does those pastries you like too much.
It took me a long time to admit to myself I was a writer. I come from a background where that isn’t a ‘proper job’. But I have always written in one form or another. So, one day, I decided to go for it. A working-class background tempered any impetuous urge to pack in my ‘proper job’. That and the fact I had become accustomed to luxuries like food, clothing and shelter.
I am happy to say that writing worked out for me. I even get paid. But the pay is irregular and not as great as a lot of people assume. So, please do not set out to be a writer if you have dreams of being rich. Very few writers become rich but many make an okay living. I’m just keeping it real. If money is your motivation for writing, you’re going to have a tough time.
For me, and I suspect many others, writing is more a compulsion than choice. I don’t think I could stop writing if I wanted to. I have to get the ideas rattling around my head out onto pages before they drive me to distraction. It soothes me when it goes smoothly and vexes me when it doesn’t.
Writing feels like home now, but for a long time I clung to the fear of pursuing what seemed to be a pipedream. This was despite the fact I knew of people, not too dissimilar to me, who were themselves writers. It’s easier to find the cons to pursuing what seems an unrealistic dream than it is to find the pros. We can even convince ourselves that our reluctance is common sense and not a fear of failure. And let’s not forget that many of us have been told, not just by ourselves but by others, that we are not good enough, not clever enough, not talented enough.
In my community the older generation have a saying:
“Don’t hang your hat where your hand can’t reach”
Anyone of Jamaican descent is likely to have heard this saying. We seem to have a lot of these self-limiting beliefs dressed up as words of wisdom or caution. Why is that? Is it a communal fear of failure or a collective fear that someone else’s success might highlight the fact we didn’t even try? Maybe it’s a combination of the two.
I have no doubt that the fear of failure accounts for 99% of unfulfilled and unpursued dreams – and bitter endings. I cringe at the thought of how many great budding novelists, poets or screenwriters whose work we may never get to see because of fear of failure. Many of whom are likely to be from communities with a lot to say but with very little representation in industries that present us to audiences either visually or literarily.
Of course, the irony of not pursuing your dream is that you haven’t avoided failing, you’ve allowed it to happen. Success is not achieved by avoiding failure; it is achieved by moving on from each failure and learning from it. Working through failures is a process that delivers experience and builds resilience. It applies to writing just as it does to learning to ride a bike or skateboard or learning to dance.
As someone who has benefitted from writing, not just financially but psychologically and emotionally, I feel strongly that everyone should indulge their creative side. Even if you don’t intend to earn a living from it, the benefits are enormous. This is particularly true for under-represented writers, whose authenticity is desperately needed in our stories.
So, I suppose the question shouldn’t be ‘why be a writer?’ It should be, ‘why not?’