To Write or Not to Write

Writing is one of those things that for some of us, is almost like breathing. It's part of our nature. We have to do it.

But sometimes you can hit a brick wall. Writing can have its obstacles to get past, or it's not working out, or...?

Sometimes, as I found with my own fiction writing, it's finding something that you really love writing about - and that others like reading. As writers, we all get attached to our work, it's part of us. Sometimes one project is closer to you than others. Sometimes one doesn't do something for you and you have to set it aside.

Sometimes you even feel like giving up... many writers have hit this point. So why - and how - do they - us -  keep going?

Curious about what goes on in a writer's mind? I asked a few writers why, and how, they keep going? What keeps them writing... 

* I got such great answers that I'm splitting this post into two parts. Check out what writers say about their craft - what inspires them, if they've ever felt like quitting, what they like about writing, etc. ---- and be sure to check out their work, too! 

In no particular order: 

John Linwood Grant, author of  - A Study in Grey: Sherlock Holmes, The Art of Deduction Book 4:
" Short answer - I have an annoyingly over-active imagination. I think of story ideas regularly, and have to do something with them, otherwise they just clog my brain. So quitting would be a bad move for my mental health now." 

Marc Vun Kannon , author of St. Martin's Moon,  has an easy explanation: "The stories won't leave me alone."

Andrea Stafford Hintz : "Talking shop with other writers REALLY keeps me focused." 

C.A. Verstraete, author of Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter:  "I write because I have to. I need to express myself and when I find something I love to write about, it makes it even more satisfying - and fun!"    

Toni L.P. Kelner, author of   A Skeleton Family mysteries by Leigh Perry) says:

"Long before I was published, when I was gathering rejection slips galore, I occasionally would consider giving up writing. In fact, I did give it up once. I said, 'forget this, I'm going to relax after work instead of sweating over a keyboard. Maybe I'll watch TV or read or do jigsaw puzzles. I did that for maybe two nights, then went back the computer.
  " The thing that got me back to writing is the fact that I enjoyed it and gained more satisfaction from writing than from doing anything else.  I still do."

Mark Cusco Ailes, author of Zombie World  (Z-Day Trilogy Book 4) says, “I've never thought about quitting writing. I've never done it for the money. I write for myself. I write to make myself happy. I've never cared if people liked what I wrote because I wasn't trying to please them.

   “Writing is an addiction that somehow worked for me. I make enough money though I don't have to get up and punch a time clock. I guess it's a bonus for my writing career. My zombie books have caught on and kept me in the game. I'm writing my last zombie book in my series right now and will switch back to alien invasion novels for my next projects. I have written 22 books so far and have no plans of slowing down.”

** Come back Wednesday for some more writers' comments!