“Why do you write?”

I rarely get asked that particular question, although I’m often asked “Why did you write this book?” I think the answers to the first question partly answer the second:

1. I write because if I didn’t I wouldn’t know what to do.
2. I write because stories.
3. I write because it gives me the ability to control a little corner of an uncontrollable world.
4. I write because I love to read, but when I read it makes me want to write.
5. I write because my brain is never quiet, and I have to do something with all the noise it makes.
6. I write to make a difference in a reader’s life, if I can, by helping them escape.

Those may not seem like good reasons to most people.I’m sure there are others. Perhaps other writers feel the same.

As to the perennial question, “Why did you write this book?” that’s a little trickier to answer.

1. Because I stumbled on a little fact, or notion, that made me curious.
2. Because this particular story hasn’t been told before.
3. Because looking at some historical event/person from a different angle might reveal a truth.
4. Because my imagination burst to life when I thought about that event/person/time/place.
5. Because I love to research, and I love to learn, and there’s nothing like trying to write about something to force you to learn more than you’ll ever need to know.
6. Because if I didn’t, nobody else would.