I think I do know. At least, I have a few answers to that questions. They’re strictly personal, but all true.
I write because I need to. Because it helps me re-thread reality so it will make better sense, trimming the edges and making it neater, clearer to the eye. My eye, at least. And sometimes other people’s.
I write because life is smaller than I like and I have been given the extraordinary gift of an imagination that is much wider. I use to give myself and other people (in that order) the chance to live other lives, be somebody else, see more of the world than they would even if they spent the rest of their days travelling. Not everyone can travel, but most of us can read a book.
I write because that’s how I communicate, in long sentences and short tweets, in 600-word essays and Facebook posts, in novels and (rarely) short stories.
There’s ambition there, too, but it’s never my first impulse. Whenever a new idea for a story springs to my mind it is never accompanied by an evaluation of how commercial it might be, that comes after, if ever. I’ve got plenty of stuff stashed away that I haven’t submitted. I write because it’s an almost carnal pleasure. And yes, positive feedback to my writing does matter, I’m not completely self-involved; negative feedback, too, if constructive. But mostly it’s the positive reinforcement that keeps me going. People believe in my ability to write.
As for how I’d like to be remembered, well, I hope it’s as someone who made a positive difference in people’s lives. Writing is my tool and my weapon.
(Hi William. Hope that answered your question. It came at a good time for me, so thanks.)
