The Many Blessings of Being a Writer

During a discussion about how writers are both cursed and blessed, no one questioned the cursed side, but a few admitted they hadn’t thought of themselves as blessed. This stayed with me. There are so many reasons to celebrate being a writer, so I thought I’d share a few today.

We have freedom of creative expression. Not everyone has the ability to express themselves in a creative way. As writers, whether we write fiction or non-fiction, creativity is a doorway to living rich and full lives.

We are gifted with the ability to share our version of the world, to offer a glimpse of what we see and experience, even give others a portion of ourselves through our words. We have the power to make a difference to people’s lives through that shared experience. The multiple connections we can make are possible because of our writing.

Our research takes us into strange and unusual places. That alone can broaden our world like no other profession.

Writing teaches us to grow thick skins. Not everyone will love our work. And that’s ok. Learning to deal with the range of different criticisms frees us from the shackles of doubt, and strengthens us as human beings.

Writing keeps us sane. Otherwise those voices in our heads might manifest in a different, scary way.

Writing keeps the people around us sane. Let’s face it, most of us are terrible grumps when we don’t get the time to write.

Only writers have a reason to act crazy. Can’t beat that.

What do you see as a blessing or joy in your writing life?

This post was written for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. We post on the first Wednesday of every month. To join us, or learn more about the group, click HERE.

Don’t forget the IWSG Anthology Contest is open until November 1. The theme is Alternate History/Parallel Universe. Winners will be published in a royalty-paying anthology next year. For details, click HERE.