Say you play guitar, or piano. You practice daily, and even though you aren't very good, people will still ask you to play something. They (probably) won't laugh, and they will say things like "that's pretty good" or "we should play together sometime". At a party, you can say you play the piano, and people won't immediately ask, "Oh, have you recorded anything?"

Say you paint, or sculpt. You practice daily, and even though you aren't very good, people will still ask to see your paintings or sculptures. They (probably) won't laugh, and they will say things like "that's pretty good" or "can I have that one?" At a party, you can happily say you paint, and people won't immediately ask, "Oh, have you sold anything?"

Say you write. You practice daily, and even though you are pretty good, people won't ask to see your writing. They (probably) won't laugh, but sometimes they do, so generally you don't tell anyone. At a party, if you reluctantly say you write, people will immediately ask, "Oh, have you published anything?"

Writing is a creative pursuit like any other. Why is it less legitimate if you aren't getting paid for it? How come you aren't a "real writer" until you get something published?

The above thoughts came to me a couple of years ago, in my first writing class. They were most liberating!

Consider this analogy:

I play guitar, and play for and with people sometimes, but I don't ever expect to record anything. That doesn't stop me from playing.

When I learn a new song on my guitar, I don't consider the time spent learning it wasted.

As I learn new songs on my guitar, I tend to forget old ones. Sometimes I start working on a new song, but then I lose interest. But the ones that suit me and I really like, I will learn well and will keep playing.

This means:

(1) I can write purely for the fun of it. I don't have to get anything published, ever, if I don't want to. There is nothing wrong with this.

However, it's the nature of writers that we eventually want people to read what we write, so I will probably want to get something published eventually. But even if I never do, the joy of writing is enough to make the pursuit worthwhile.

(2) there is nothing wrong with piles of discarded writing and rejected manuscripts. It's not wasted time! It's all practice, like learning to paint or play an instrument.

It's better, really, because you can always salvage something from old bits of writing. You can't do that with used paint or musical notes.

(3) I must not expect everything I write will be good enough for other people to read. Some of it will languish on my hard drive until doomsday.

I may look at it, play with it, salvage bits of it for other stories, but some of my stories will never become more than explored ideas.

Thinking this way has made my writing obsession easier to live with. :roll: