Stories We Want to Read

Why do writers write? 

The stock answer is we have stories to tell.  But I'll let you in on a little secret, confirmed by other writers I know; we write because we have stories we want to READ. 

Sure, we want to share these exploits, the characters we create and the worlds they live in.  We want to awe and inspire the readers with our writing prowess and our creative energy and our stirring visions.  But in the back of every writer's mind lurks a reader, just like the ones written for, who wants to read the story their own hands and mind are building.

Why is that? 

Well, it's really pretty simple; no one else is going to write this story, so we have to do it ourselves.  You know the old adage; if you want something done right, blah, blah, blah...

Truth be told, we love the stories we write because we love the characters and worlds they populate.  We want to walk beside them, feel their excitement and anguish as they make their way through the trials and circumstance we put them through.  We want to know their hearts and minds, to experience their pain and pleasures, to know them only as a reader can, because while the bond between writer and character is special, the one between reader and character is intimate.  We can only experience their feelings by reading their stories, not by writing them.

Therefore, we write the stories we want to read, about characters we love, and feel no shame in wanting to share them with others.

And you thought it was all about the writing, didn't you?