Hi all, and welcome back to rumblewrites. This is the first part in an exciting new series where I interview authors and get the inside scoop on writing, publishing and everything in between. Today’s post focuses on the basic, yet ever-so-interesting question: why write?
There will be 4 more parts, with the next post coming on 6th September. Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out!
We’re often told that the paths we take are our own. While true, it’s not always helpful to hear this as a writer. If you’re anything like me, you’ve struggled on your path, and wondered if there’s anyone out there who can relate or give you some advice. But when you go searching, all you find are the same vapid posts about “achieving your goals”, cookie-cutter success stories, and offerings of feedback hidden behind paywalls.
There’s nothing real. At least, nothing I could easily find. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and put out this note:
I wanted to bring together a small group of authors, with no ties to one another or any financial incentive, to talk honestly and to revisit some foundational questions about writing. By putting their voices in conversation with one another, I hoped to at once highlight the diversity of their journeys, while also drawing out the commonalities in their experiences. I wanted to feel inspired, and less alone. I hope you will too.
Detail from Adélaïde Labille-Guiard’s ‘Portrait of a woman’ (1787)
For ourselves
“Nothing to me is more pleasant than spending time in a flow state. I get a dopamine hit every time the narrative surprises me, and I adore the sense that I’m collaborating with something larger than myself. It really lifts me out of my usual reality” - Karin
As the responses started coming in, common themes emerged. Karin summarises the first of these perfectly: we write to satisfy something within ourselves. Whether that’s our enjoyment of the writing process itself…
“I write for myself primarily, I’m compelled to write but it’s also about building points of commonality with the audience. But to build an enduring legacy, a body of work that on reflection I will be proud of, it has to be conceived in an authentic space” - Donna
or the realisation of our future dreams, writing makes us happy. It has to, right? Otherwise, we wouldn’t spend so much of our lives doing it, often overworked and underpaid.
Donna highlights another aspect to this, too: we write to create something we are proud of. We seek validation, both external and internal. This is something I’ve struggled with, but hearing these authors celebrate their own successes has shown me that there’s no shame in boasting about our achievements. In fact, it can be very rewarding.
Because it’s who we are
I’m not me without my pen. Or laptop. Or… whatever, you get my point.
“I don’t know why I write. It’s just what I do, what I’ve always done, and without it I’m not me.” - Lisa
“writing and I are so intertwined. It feels sort of encoded in my DNA. I don’t think there’s a version of me that exists that doesn’t write — if there is, that’s not me” - Marble
A lot of us have found our identities through writing, so much so that doing something else can feel like a betrayal of ourselves. I’ve seen writers complain about their day jobs, other hobbies, even their family and friends getting in the way of their writing time. I don’t think this is unappreciative; they’re just frustrated that writing must often take a backseat to life. We feel at home with our words and being kept away for too long risks us losing our sense of self.
“Writing has been my path to being fully myself, and it’s the one thing that when I’m doing it I don’t feel like I should be doing something else” - Sara
Sara helps us understand why this is: writing is not just part of our current identities, but of our journey to finding them. Whether that’s in the very literal sense of writing a memoir, or in a more metaphorical one.
To build connections
Let’s look outside ourselves for a moment and focus on that sense of external validation I mentioned earlier:
“the most exciting part of being an author is the chance that one person will read words I've written that happen to resonate with a part of their psyche that needs to laugh or cry or mourn or dream in a way that it hasn't before” - Jennifer
We want our words to have an impact on other people. That’s why, for a lot of us, publishing is the end goal of writing. I’m still in the early days of drafting my (hopefully) debut novel, so I haven’t felt this quite as much as others, but the idea that people have resonated with my words and my worlds is an incredible feeling.
“I write because I have stories that are dying to get onto a page, and they help me understand myself: in turn, they help other people understand themselves” - Nicole (echoed by Beverley)
I love this comment by Nicole as it draws this whole article together: we write because we have to, to honour something within ourselves, and to help other people through that same journey. Just as others’ words have helped us.
I’ve been writing seriously for about a year now, and I still feel a bit lost. But after talking to these authors about why they write, I’ve started to reframe my perspective. Success and failure will come and pass, my goals will change, and I’ll change too. But for now, I’m content to say that I write because I am a creative person, I have a voice, and I have the confidence to use it.
But tell me… why do you write?
Contributing authors
I am indebted to the following wonderful people who have contributed their time, wisdom and hearts to this series. They are:
Donna Faulkner
Donna (she/her) spent her childhood between countries. One foot bare and carefree in New Zealand, the other tiptoeing the coal dust and camaraderie of working class England. She lives in Rangiora, New Zealand but likes to roam.
She has been published in various lit mags, and her poetry book In Silver Majesty is forthcoming with erbacce press.
Insta @lady_lilth_poet, X @nee_miller, Linktr.ee
Jennifer Martain
Jennifer (she/her) a 52-year-old author from coastal North Carolina. Her favorite hobby is researching and exploring connections between disparate "truths" in order to foster creative empathy—and add new tinfoil hats to her collection.
Her books Daughters of Men (2019), My Alien Life (2022), and Forgetting the Lost (2023) can be purchased on her website. She is currently serialising her latest book Like Moonlight on Water on Substack!
Insta @jmartainauthor, X @JenniferMartain, Facebook authorJMartain
Nicole Eigener
Nicole (she/they/iel) is an author living in the sun-kissed desert of Southern California, but they prefer clouds and rain. They have been working as a professional graphic designer for over 30 years, but in their spare time, Nicole enjoys wine, bubble baths, and Skyping with writing-partner Beverley.
She has 2 published novels: Beguiled by Night and its sequel, Citizens of Shadow, which you can purchase from their website.
Insta @beguiledbynight
Beverley Lee
Beverley (she/her) is a writer who lives close to the dreaming spires of Oxford, in the UK. Her books include the vampire suspense trilogy The Making of Gabriel Davenport, A Shining in the Shadows, and The Purity of Crimson, as well as The Ruin of Delicate Things, The House of Little Bones, and The Sum of Your Flesh.
In collaboration with Nicole, she has written Crimson is the Night, and is currently working on the A Conclave of Crimson triology. All can be found on Beverley’s website.
Insta @theconstantvoice
Joint with Nicole: Insta @nicoverleybooks, Pinterest
Karin Gillespie
Karin (she/her) is the author of 9 novels, both traditional and self-published. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and has been writing for 30 years, primarily in the genre of women’s fiction. She is currently living in beautiful Savannah Georgia.
Facebook @karingillespieauthor, Linktr.ee
Lisa Fransson
Lisa (she/her) is an author and technical translator from the south coast of England. She writes for children in her native Swedish and literary fiction for adults in her adopted English.
The Shape of Guilt was published by epoque press in 2023. Her children’s books in Swedish are: Eben von Ruben och husbarnet, Tegelstenen, Hängeken, Strandglas, Beckmörkret, and Älgpappan.
Marble Black
Marble (she/they) is a 26-year-old writer residing in Oklahoma. They write literary fiction and contemporary romance and are in the process of querying for her first novel. She also runs a magazine called ‘The Groke’, which focuses on the art of decay.
Sara Read
Sara (she/hän) is a 54-year-old writer of contemporary realistic fiction, and is moving into magical realism. For a long time, she worked as a nurse with writing as her side hustle. Now writing is her job, and being an oncology nurse is her side hustle.
She has 2 novels traditionally published on Graydon House: Johanna Porter is Not Sorry (2023), and Principles of (E)motion (2024). Both can be found on her website.
Insta @sarareadauthor
The big red overlord sat at the top of my screen told me this post is too long for email. So, if you’ve made it this far… leave a silly comment or something, I don’t know ☺
I love the conversational style of this article , and you’ve done a fantastic job of fusing the ideas together Lucy. Thank you so much for including me.
The diversity of voices adds richness, making this series relatable and inspiring—another great piece.