Why do writers write?
Ask famous and fledgling writers alike, and you're likely to get as many reasons as there are writers. Not many of us do it for money--few of us will become as well-known as J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame, or Stephen King or any of the authors whose works fill the bestseller lists or the airport newsstands. Even fewer of us will rise to the level of a Toni Morrison, Derek Walcott, or Nadine Gordimer to win the Nobel prize. We might not even get the local newspaper to print our articles, and only our family and friends may read or blog, but yet, we continue to write anyway.
The simple answer for many of us is that we write because we have to. We have an idea that clamors to be expressed, or a characters come to life in our minds and refuse to leave until we tell their stories.
Whatever the reason, write we must, and writing is what we do.
In this section, Ivy and I will periodically post excerpts from novels we are working on. Ivy is currently working on a novel, Who We Were.
Click on the tabs under The Writing Life to read the story of how Who We Were came to be and the first chapter of Ivy's novel-in-progress. Let us know what you think.
And if you have your own novel, whether completed or still taking shape, send us an excerpt and we will share it with our readers. See our submission guidelines for more information.
We can't wait to hear from you.
Until then, keep writing!
