Why Write?

MONEY- If money is your aim there are many venues, genres and niche markets to choose from but all in all the most lucrative of these, a novel, is a bit
like winning the lottery. This does not defame the artist in any way but like all other endeavors, hard work is essential, while chance tips the
ball over the net or back at you. Still the odds are better than at any casino because there are many factors which you can control. These include
but are not limited to the quality of your writing, finding the right market or publisher for your work, and the art of self promotion.

FAME- Writing is immortality. The things we say or think about may be around for a while, maybe even passed down for generations, but writing remains.
The Rosetta Stone found by Napoleon's army, ancient cave paintings and The Diary of Anne Frank are just a few examples. What's more the written word
gives us a chance to evaluate our past, present and future objectively. Be it positive or negative, acknowledgement increases relevance. To ignore
something is to make it inconsequential. So take the good with the bad; the truth is usually somewhere in the middle.

LOVE- But the greatest of these is love. A labor of love is its own reward. What inspires me to write is being swept away by the writing of others followed
by a desire to recreate that sensation for someone else. The thrill of the hunt, weak in the knees and out of breath due to a brain scrambling kiss, spanning
the depths of human emotion from deepest regret and humility to pentacles of triumph, all this and more within the pages of a book. In his screenplay Shadowlands
William Nicholson created a quote for Jack Lewis' book loving student, "We read to know we're not alone." I believe we also write to know we're not alone.