Why I Write
Last night I fell asleep thinking about why I write.
Many hours have been spent this past year clicking away at a keyboard. Many opportunities to sleep or watch TV have been sacrificed. I work on my blog around 20 hours per week, so it’s a big part of my life.
But I do it. And it’s changing me.
I’m becoming more thoughtful in my daily life, more poetic even. Words bounce around in my head, ideas form and adapt slowly over time, helping me process and make sense of the world around me.
The posts I write usually flow out like water, often drafted and refined in less than an hour. But really, that process often begins months prior.
So many thoughts are mulled over and informed by the wise people in my life, only to be tucked away for future reference, time and time again until eventually, a post is born.
By the time I sit down to click it out, more often then not, I already know not only its key concepts and construction, but also much of the exact phrasing I will use.
But why?
As best I can tell, this is why I do it.
1. I feel compelled
I don’t know how to describe it better than to say, I believe God is calling me to blog.
I shared a bit more of the blog’s backstory in my interview on the Homemaking Foundations podcast (found here), but suffice it to say, many things came into alignment to lead me to do this.
And I’ve felt fueled and lead by God ever since. Of course I’m NOT perfect, but I am seeking to follow His guidance with what I write and how I influence others. Everything about my message here is an outflow of the work God has and is doing in my life!
I love ideas, so the prospect of sharing and spreading them excited me.
2. I love it
I can’t tell you how much good it has done me to have a “thing” outside of mothering. I highly value my role as a SAHM, but allowing my brain to stretch and giving myself an avenue for setting and achieving personal goals reinvigorates me to jump back in with my kids when the wake up or need me again. It’s therapeutic and satisfying.
It’s also made me more productive, and I feel good about that. Giving up TV watching and nap-taking has motivated me to use my time well and go to bed earlier.
It’s my creative outlet. I never knew I needed one, but I did.
I’ve slowly begun to view writing as an art form. Not that my writing is artistic in style, but each piece slowly takes on a form and life of its own. I feel like a potter, working the clay. I enjoy watching it take shape, and through revision, I refine it.
And thus it gives me life.
3. I want to contribute to my family
This is my more “dutiful” reason, but it is no less motivating. My husband and I have earmarked income I generate through this blog as part tithe, part debt repayment. So basically we don’t get to spend it on …any of the things one might be tempted to buy with extra income!
Although I have made some money through affiliate sales so far (read my disclosure policy here), most of it has gone back into blog expenses. These past 15 months of been about laying a foundation.
My expressed goal is to make a part-time income through my blog by the time our youngest is in school… so five years from now. My secret goal is to have our mortgage paid off by that time. 🙂
4. I’m a writer
When I started this blog, I didn’t see myself as “a writer.” That title was too special and important sounding, and besides I didn’t really know how to join that club. I hadn’t exactly published a book.
Throughout the past year or so, there’s been a shift. I do see myself as a writer now. That’s me. Katie the writer. So what do writers do? They write! I write because I’m a writer.
Now, I’m not saying everyone reading post this should start a blog.
… but some of you probably should!
If that’s you, I wrote a post on that too! Find it here:
For the rest of you,
What would it mean to give yourself a space for creativity? For ministry? For achieving personal goals?
I would encourage you to consider these questions and, as God leads, to challenge yourself to do something outside of your comfort zone! It’s good.
Many blessings,
Katie
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I don’t know, but I write just because I love to write! haha! I love reading books, other’s blogs, inspirational materials, and of course, learning from it. Although, I’m literally busy with work, I try to find a way to write on my blog sites, read the blogs I follow and read books that I find interesting and educational. Enjoyed reading this post!
I love your style, Katie. I have a lot of ideas running in my head but I fail to lay it out most of the time. However, I am somehow inspired by you and other blogs to keep blogging too. I am obviously nowhere near your level of writing, but I am definitely have the passion to keep trying after all these years. Thanks for your encouragement. 🙂 God Bless!
You have a beautiful blog Grace! Thank you so much for sharing and for stopping by. I LIKED your Facebook page so I can follow along!
I love this Katie. I didn’t know I was a writer until I started to blog. Now I write because I am a writer, everything else is secondary. Hoping for great things and a bright future for you and your writing career.
Yes! I agree. Blogging is such a wonderful vehicle for gals like us! Hoping great things for you as well!
In your reply to Rachel you mentioned finding your writing focus and also the direction of your blog as a whole and honing it. It is interesting to read older posts of people who have been doing this for a while and noticing their progression. There is a “style” for blog posts that has emerged. Within that genre each writer has her own style of writing, and also her own personality and character. But there is a norm that I think we have come to expect. Length, even, is included in that. I used to read a national news magazine that once offered for sale their “style book”, the policies of grammar, punctuation and other things that they expected from anyone who wrote for them. Interesting. Who knew! This was all before the Internet. Another magazine I enjoyed used sentence fragments for all their article titles and it was so effective! Anyway, I wish you all well! And I enjoy your “style”!
Thank you!
My women friends don’t talk to me that way, but I really like that as a goal. At a gathering of old friends I was sitting next to a person that I highly respected and wanted to engage in conversation in a meaningful way. While I was thinking about it the man on his other side asked him something like this—so what have you been studying, teaching, learning, thinking about lately? I was so impressed with that direct question that went to the heart of matters, but I never thought til you mentioned your women friends that I could actually talk that way with my girl friends! This is a long way from a discussion about writing! Maybe it qualifies as a personal goal:) Again, thanks, Katie. May your writing time this week be enjoyable.
That is such a great question! I used to be good about asking my friends a similar question, but I have gotten away from it in recent years. I am so inspired to hear that! In fact, I may publish something about it on the blog, because that is the perfect question to create, as you said, meaningful conversation.
I am glad that you do write. I enjoy reading what you post and your input has benefited my thinking. Your posts deserve a comment from me. However, I am not a writer. First, it takes a while to crystallize in my mind the benefit I have received. And that is a good thing. Taking time to digest and apply it. But then —how to express it! Not so easy! So, to comment on this post—I am now thinking about how I spend my time, (a lot of my activities are fixed and necessary, so which ones can I emphasize–maybe the ones in which God gives me extra joy). I love to read and my husband likes me to review to him what I have read–sifting through it all and giving him the best and/or my thoughts and conclusions. And he uses these things in what he does. To me, this is fun–it’s almost like a collaboration. Well, that is my thoughts SO FAR, and, thanks again!
That’s wonderful! I get so much more out of reading when I share it with others. I have friends in my life who are my designated accountability partners, and I always want them to ask me what I’ve been reading and learning (especially in the Bible, but also in other books). When we forget to talk about it, I learn far less. What a blessing to get to collaborate with your husband! That’s a great feeling.
I identify with this very well. Although I am no where near your level of experience, I love writing like that too. I used to call myself a writer in high school (8 years ago yikes) but without practice I lost my passion for stories and gave up on it. It took me a long while to realize the desire for writing wasn’t gone, my passion had just shifted to my God appointed role as Help-meet and Mother instead of the one I gave myself. This is so very well said! Thank you!
That’s awesome! I’m glad you’re rediscovering your passion. It’ll be fun to see how your blog takes shape over time. Honing it in is a neat (and necessary) process. What I said about post-writing is also true of the blog as a whole. It’s molded over time. It too is an piece of art.