Week of Sept. 23, 2012 - Why I Write

By Joan Whetzel  

          I love to write. I write as often as I can. There has to be an extremely good reason for me not write. Why do I write? Oh, let me count the ways.

I Like Learning New Things

             I like writing because I am not confined by the dictum to "write what you know." I get to write what I want to know about. I am always learning new things which I am excited to share with others. This is leading me to all kinds of new areas of expertise. It also opens my mind to new questions, new things to learn.

It Feeds My Creative Spirit

            Writing feeds my creativity, allowing me to creatively put words together in new ways. It compels me to consider appropriate artwork and take photos that will go along with the stories I write. It also drives me to come up with creative summaries to entice readers to read further. I find my creative muses are omnipresent in my life just by being open to them.

I Can Fit it Into My Lifestyle

            I can take my writing with me on vacations or to places (i.e. doctor's offices) where I need to sit in the waiting room waiting on someone else. I can fit in and around my family's routines and emergencies. Since I am an early morning person, I can writer early, before the day has a chance to intrude on my creative juices.

                                           

I Can Do it Anywhere

            I can take it on vacation. I can take it with me and write while I wait on appointments (mine or others'). I can take it to the local coffee shop. I can write in the park - which I do often when the weather is nice.

I Can Earn Money from Multiple Sources

            Freelancing offers me so many opportunities to write for  money. There are thousands upon thousands of magazines that publish freelance work. I have been trained in journalism, so I could do some freelance submissions for the local newspapers. I choose to write for some of the multitudes of writing sites online. I can choose write what I write for these companies submit as many articles as I wish. The best part is that some of the online sites pay by the number of hits each article gets. In other words, My articles don't just pay once, they keep on paying because they keep getting hits from readers. Others only pay once, but that's okay too. A paycheck is a paycheck. And any published writing that I can use as proof of that I have been published, will always lead to more writing jobs in the future.

I Can Make My Own Hours

            I am an early morning person. I can write in the early morning up until lunchtime. Sometimes, though, I find I can't sleep at night, so I sit up and write for a while. It usually puts my mind at ease and I fall right back to sleep easily after a short stint of writing. If I have a morning dentist appointment (or something else going on in the morning), I can write in the afternoon. It doesn't matter when I write, as long as I can write.

The Hope of Making More Money

            The more success I have the more potential writing jobs I have. The more writing sources I have, the more potential money I can make. The sites that keep paying based on hits for my evergreen content, will continuously send me paychecks. I have written a few books which, if the sales begin to take off soon, will earn me additional income. With a little marketing on my part there is no end to the possibilities.