Why we do it

Just over a week ago, I was fortunate enough to be one of the six speakers at an event co-hosted by Bahrain Writers’ Circle and Internations, Bahrain. 

It was an opportunity for members of Internations, or indeed anyone with an interest in literature, to meet some local authors. Although the event was put together at quite short notice, around forty people attended. The suuccess being a testament to the efforts of Muna Rabieh of the BWC and Melanie Alderton of Internations.

At any book signing or craft fair events I attend, conversations about literature, art or even world affairs will spring up from the brief encounter between reader and author. It is this interaction that is one of the many things I love about being an author. 

Last week was no exception and with topics covering poetry, children’s literature, fiction, cooking, cultural stories and screenwriting, it is unsurprising that a free-flowing exchange of views, ideas and questions ensued.

One of the points I touched upon in my presentation was the question of why we do it. It certainly isn’t for the money as most of us never recover our outlay. Although I would not be averse to having the earning of the likes of Ian Rankin and JK Rowling, there are certain aspects of writing that provide a different kind of reward, interaction being just one of them. 

Writing ‘The End’ on the final draft of the manuscript creates an incredible feeling of achievement. Holding the first copy of the paperback in your hand has your heart beating faster. The demand from British Library for legal deposit moves you to tears; your book will be on the shelves with works from the likes of Shakespeare, Dickens, Keats and Byron

But the one that stands head and shoulders above the rest is feedback from readers. I’ve read your book and …’ are words that every author both fears and longs for, but when that sentence continues into the most lavish praise, there is no drug on earth could produce that euphoria. 

That is why we do it. We are addicts. We can’t stop because we are driven. We crave that drug and will sell our souls to have more.  Art is an expression from within, but I am not sure it has meaning unless there are others to appreciate the creation. It is a symbiosis of artist and observer. 

What makes a writer?