What is so appealing about writing a book?

[callywag]

If you're currently working or hoping to have your writing published, what is it that makes this idea so desirable?

I ask as someone who still harbours ambitions in this regard but for reasons I don't really understand - as I know from experience it's not all it's cracked up to be.

Some years ago, I had two books traditionally published. I got a little bit of money, a little bit of attention, a few reviews, and then it all got forgotten about. It was exciting for a few weeks but neither the money nor the excitement was worth the huge amount of work. I was undoubtedly working for less than minimum wage once everything was totted up.

Now, very occasionally, I get asked to speak to rooms of hopeful as-yet-unpublished writers and the yearning to be published is so strong, for so many people. Having one's name on a book they've written still seems to hold an almost mythical appeal. Indeed, I still consider doing it all again myself even though I know what a disappointment it is (for 99% of authors anyway, obviously there are always those rare runaway successes)

Why? What is it about having written an actual published book that is so appealing? I'm honestly not sure.

I guess because it's like climbing Everest: it's theoretically possible for everyone but few people actually manage it?

I think it’s also because it does seem accessible? We all have access to paper or laptop. I’d love to direct a film but that does seem far more complicated! So writing a book sort of seems doable?

From interacting with various writing communities, I'd say that most people don't want to 'write' a book, they want to 'have written' a book. They want the kudos that goes with having a book with their name on it on bookshelves and they want the perceived kudos of being on TV or radio or interviewed in the press - being famous, basically.

The problem is that a lot of them don't want to put in the years of effort and the inevitable knockbacks that go along with writing a book. And it's popularly perceived as 'easy' (see all those 'churning it out' 'trashy novel' 'easy quick read' type reviews, particularly of fiction written by women for women.

When you say a book, do you mean a novel? I would think people want to create something that can be enjoyed by others. Do you not feel it was a creative achievement? Some people go to great lengths to bake a cake and decorate it, only for others to eat it, but they had the creative satisfaction of completing it.

I think there are a range of factors that vary between people.

1. The first is the unfortunate "overnight billionaire" myth: that someone writes a book, it's wonderful, a traditional publisher picks it up and then they can go and live in the South of France, never work for a boss again, and just write at their leisure. I'm not sure there has ever been a writer who made lifelong bank off a single book unless that book also got picked up for huge media options (Hollywood).
2. Is people that actively have a story to tell that they want to get out there, and have readers appreciate.
3. Is "eternity". Having a book out there is something that will go on beyond your death, at least if you've managed to get it everywhere online including Google Books.

I think for most young aspiring writers it's partly 1. and most specifically the idea of being self-employed and never having to work for anyone (but themselves).

The reality is that to be successful, you nearly always have to "write to market" for the first few years, so if your tastes and interests don't align with what is commercially attractive, it's really just work. It's barely different to other forms of commercial writing - journalism, content writing, copywriting - that are much easier to make a living wage with.

He who pays the piper etc.

Touching someone elses life in a way that benefits them.

It may be nothing more than a welcome distraction when their life is going to shit and they need somewhere to escape, it may be a concept that you helped to crystallise in their minds when they were thinking about it, or helping them understand something they are trying to learn by explaining it in a way that helps, it might just be that you made them laugh when they didn't have much to laugh about.

If I make one persons life a teeny bit better, or just more enjoyable then it was worth the effort.
Because that means I did that (so yes, really it is about me, not just them, but it is also about them).

For me it’s now primarily what @HumanRightsAreHumanRights has said, along with a need to pay my mortgage! However, there have definitely been other motivators along the way.

I’m in the process of writing my 30th novel for publication, which is part of a multi-book deal I’m currently contracted for. My initial desire to write came from an inherent need to tell stories, which I’ve been doing in some form or other, for almost as long as I’ve been able to read. The dream of being published first arose from wanting to emulate my writing heroes in some small way and to do the things that @HumanRightsAreHumanRights has described. As well as to have a book on the shelf, with my name on it, lined up next to novels by my favourite authors.

I make a ‘good’ living as an author and have sold more than a million novels, but it took nearly ten years of balancing writing with a day job before I became a full time author. So, if I’d been in the chase for publication purely for the money, I’d definitely have given up a long time ago! When people discover what I do, they often assume that all authors make a fortune and have no idea that multi millionaire novelists are the tiny exception and not the rule. There are certainly some aspiring authors who believe publication is the route to vast wealth, but someone has to be that exception so why not dream big?

As you know OP, there are highs and lows to the job, and I had some horrendous experiences with publishers early in my career, which drove me to the edge of giving up and if I’d known those things were going to happen, I might well have lost the desire to be published before I even started. I count myself incredibly lucky that I’m now contracted with the very best publisher around, and I have a hugely supportive editor.

As a PP said, in order to be published and continue to be so, authors may have to write what is commercially viable, which might be at odds with their passion projects. However, aspiring authors often have an overwhelming desire to write a story they believe needs to be told, regardless of whether it is likely to be commercially viable in practice. The motivation to write that story in the hope of finding a publisher for it remains, despite the low odds of doing so, because of the drive to tell the story itself.

A life changing diagnosis drove me to pursue my dream much more seriously than I ever had before, in case it was then or never, so I certainly understand the legacy aspect. However, I’m under no illusion that my very commercial fiction is the kind of great literature that will live on for generations. The very best bits of my job are the messages I receive from readers, telling me that escaping into my books has helped them through a difficult time in their lives, or that they feel seen because they identify so strongly with a character or plot line. It’s the knowledge that I’ve made a tiny difference to a stranger’s life, even for a little while, that has got my bum into the seat to write and want to continue to be published, even during the lowest lows in my career.

I guess your answer, OP, is that there are many different motivations that drive people to want to be published, which no amount of reality checks can diminish for those determined to pursue that goal. Then there are the dreamers, who won’t get any further than that, because the dream is by far the easiest part. While it remains just a dream, publication can also remain that unsullied perfect ‘destination’, which reality never gets the chance to bite. All of that said, I love my job and still find it amazing that I get to do what I’ve dreamt of doing my whole life, and I can’t imagine ever wanting to stop.

I’m good at writing, I love reading, I just feel it’s my way of being creative.

I think human beings are inherently storytellers and have been since the dawn of (our) time. Around the campfire and cave art - it’s in our blood. Our brains and language evolved and the stories are told, in large part, to make sense of the eternal human question of ‘why?’

Writing an 'easy, quick read' takes an unbelievable amount of talent and hard-work. Being able to write prose where the reader forgets they are reading and is just transported into the author's world is pretty much the holy grail of writing.

Oh and women make up half the population and read the vast, vast majority of books. Books by women for women are every bit as valuable as any other kind of literature even if they are generally some of the most profitable. It's a really odd kind of misogyny to denigrate the majority of readers like that.

Yes, I know. I write Women's Fiction. We are constantly battling the 'oh, she just churns them out' or 'oh, it's just a women's book'. Check out the RespectRomFic hashtag around the place.
I hate the reviews for my books that mention it being 'an easy read'. What did you expect - to have to have a thesaurus and a degree in psychology to read one?

Really interesting question, OP. My debut novel is coming out with a trad publisher next year, so I have been musing over lots of these things recently.

It's definitely not the money. My advance (with a Big 5 house) was tiny, and I was aware that this was likely to be the case beforehand. My day job is well paid, so financially I'd be much better off increasing my working hours by the amount of time that I currently devote to writing.

But reading has brought me more pleasure than anything else in my life (my loved ones excepted, obviously), so a big reason for me is just wanting to be a small part of that world, and to write something that might someday bring a reader the sort of joy that I've experienced over and over again. And wanting to be a part of 'the discourse', if you know what I mean - I would love to be interviewed on a writing podcast, or to sit on a panel at a literary festival. Not for any sort of fame, I don't think, but just to have opportunities to talk books with people who love books,

There's an ego aspect to that, of course - and to other motivators like the possibility of getting good reviews, or of someday being on a shortlist for a prize, that sort of thing. Wanting to be respected, and to be taken seriously, I suppose?

I wouldn't be motivated to write if I knew there was no chance of being published. I need that potential to be there, however small - it kept me going through ten years and two full-length unpublished manuscripts before I eventually found my agent!

I could've written every word of this myself.

I too earn quite well from my main profession, so there's no escaping the fact that by spending the time on writing instead of putting the same hours into my day job, I'm financially worse off. This has a lot to do with my soul searching re motivation really.

I'm not published. But I have wanted to be "a writer" since about the age of 10, possibly before. It comes from a love a reading, and because I couldn't put books down, I wanted to create one. To channel my daydreams into it.
My day job doesn't pay very well, but even a "tiny" advance, or a competition prize, with which I could take my kids camping, or buy them a swing set, would be lovely, as I could say, I did that with something I put my heart into.

When I had children I stopped work, and I have friends who carried on with their profession and are now high level. But i carried on writing throughout. You can squeeze it in here and there, you don't need to commit to three hours a week if you don't want to.

I'd love to be able to answer "I'm a writer" to the question, "what do you do".

I was a runner-up in a small competition once and my short story was published in a collection that wasn't sold very widely. I earned nothing from it, nor did I expect to. But I bought a copy for my grandmother, who is no longer with us. She said she wanted to sing from the rooftops how proud she was of me.

@GhostImposter and @Vroomfondleswaistcoat I couldn't agree with you more. The derision that so-called women's fiction receives is ridiculous when it's the most commercial and profitable form of fiction, with crime/cosy crime probably coming in second place. It's similar to the snobbery around traditional publishing and digital first publishers who are leading the market. Like it or not, Amazon is the biggest bookshop in the world and if you want to connect with the most readers and get your books in their hands (on Kindle or otherwise), you have to embrace that the publishing model has changed. For some reason those who deride women's fiction also forget that many readers want to escape into a world where they know everything will ultimately come good, because let's face it, real life can sometimes suck. It's how the author takes them there where the hard work of writing lies and I challenge anyone who talks about such books being easy to write, to have a go!

@TheStoriesWeTell so interesting what you said about women's fiction being the most commercial. I suppose that that is helped by the supermarkets which seem to favour the genre.
But with that in mind, I do wonder about the many "agents' wish lists" which oftem seem to looking for "topical themes" such as divorced parents and so on. It seems young adults are to read books with sad themes and adult women can read books with happy themes!
But I think my research on the subject is far from comprehensive!

Plenty of women's fiction contains difficult themes. They aren't all light and fluffy. I write about disability, mental illness, parental alienation - this isn't contrary to women's fiction. They can have happy endings which encourage those who suffer from various conditions or problems to believe that they too are worthy of a happy ending. It's not all gorgeous young women falling for billionaires who whisk them away to a life of luxury.

Absolutely @Vroomfondleswaistcoat I've written about everything from life limiting illness, to child loss and suicide within the genre of women's fiction, but always with a sense that there can be hope even the gravest of circumstances. That doesn't make it 'fluffy', it makes it the same thing that gets most of us through the toughest times in our lives. I don't want to read misery fiction that offers none of that hope, but would never deride anyone who does. That's why I find the judgement of so-called women's fiction so infuriating, as it is a varied and diverse as women themselves.

There are a few books I’ve read that have changed the way I see the world, or made me feel less alone with an unusual experience, or made me empathise with people I hadn’t understood, or made me excited about something I otherwise wouldn’t care about. I’ve felt closer to those authors, even when they died before I was born, than many friends I’ve had for years. Reading a book is seeing the world through someone else’s eyes, in a way that no other medium replicates.

To create something that would communicate with other people in that way is one of the most meaningful goals I can think of. I also feel personally that some of the avoidable mistakes I’ve made would be somehow karmically justified if I can turn them into fiction at some point. I’ve written three or four novels in first draft form but haven’t sent anything out yet, I’ll be disappointed with myself if I never do.

Seems like it’s mainly a vanity project for a lot of people, given how little most get paid for the amount of work they put it.

I have an acquaintance who self-published some spiritual drivel a while back. She had a big book launch and asked everyone she knew to write reviews. Honestly it was just cringe-worthy. The way she bigged herself up with superlatives in the blurb on the back was embarrassing.

In terms of "vanity" project

I've spent years trying and failing at writing a novel. I still might do it but I'm in really in awe of anyone who can achieve that, so the term "vanity" for such hard work and skill seems odd to me.

l think the "light" fiction is just as hard to write as the heavy stuff.

What's stopped me has been the thought of sitting at a small table, in a provisional book shop, with a stack of books waiting to be asked to sign one, and every potential customer avoiding my eye.

That and the risk of redicule for misplaced, comma's and apostrophes.

I think vanity is very apt.

Speak to anyone who has - or has tried - to get a book published, and there will almost invariably mention the thrill of seeing their own name on a real book in a bookshop.

People (published authors especially, and I know many!) will talk a lot about connecting with readers, making a difference to their lives etc but I'm afraid that vanity does tend to be the overriding motivation.

Vanity is a driving force in so many things humans do surely? Going to the gym, buying a flash car, running a marathon, having kids (look at how cute my kid is…), getting an impressive job?

I do think with writing it’s sort of more evident as writers need reviews and publicity so keep telling everyone about it

I just love writing. I would never want to stop. But sure, seeing your books in any national bookshop does do something to your ego. I try not to let it, but the whole publishing thing does do something to your mental health (the whole waiting on agents and publishers thing, waiting to hear if your work is good enough, etc) & then the almost-fame of seeing your book in a shop or being posted about on social media is the other end of the scale.