Reflections On My Writing Habit: When Does a Habit Become a Hobby?
Storytelling and Opinion Pieces. Understanding Why I Write.
Recently, I got feedback that one of my articles was a bit of a letdown. I was quick to justify that it’s more important to me that I am consistent in putting out an article each week. However, the fact that I felt the need to make this justification in the first place made me come to the realisation that I write not just for myself, but for others as well. As much as I try to craft a narrative to convince myself or others otherwise, I don’t think that this will change.
In one of my previous articles, I wrote that the difference between a hobby and how you spend your free time is that hobbies stem from intrinsic motivators whereas how you spend your free time stem from extrinsic motivators. However, I also realised that a large aspect of having a hobby is also the community surrounding it. This is technically an extrinsic motivator and hence shows that the extrinsic/intrinsic lens of viewing hobbies is incomplete.
Nevertheless, It might be helpful to view extrinsic/intrinsic motivators on a spectrum or to compare the proportion of the two motivators to each other in, rather than simply using them as binary lenses. Certainly, I’m writing partially for the extrinsic positive validation I get for writing, but yet also sometimes write for the intrinsic enjoyment of the process.
It’s also interesting to note the correlation between the effort I put into writing an article with how well the article is received. It initially seemed like the articles that I had spent the least time on had performed the best. There were some articles which I had virtually spent almost no time on but had been very well received.
As we’ve all been taught though, correlation doesn’t imply causation. I’ve learnt now that the less I care about how I write or how well-researched my opinions are and the more I care about being my authentic self, the better the stories I tell. Being a great storyteller might be the true indicator of how well an article is received.
It’s been exactly 6 months since I said writing is not my hobby and that I do not yet identify as a writer. While I don’t think that has conclusively changed, I did enjoy writing this article and sharing my story. Maybe, just maybe, I’ve taken a step closer to turning my habit into a hobby.
