Say hello to guest blogger, Meredith Bond, who tells us why she writes…
There’s recently been a thread on a discussion group I follow (I rarely participate, but I always read the postings of others) about why people publish what they’ve written.
There have been some really interesting responses. Some people want immortality, to be remembered after they’re gone. Others simply want to share their creative work and publishing it is the only way to do that. Some people openly admit that the only reason they write is to publish and earn money.
I have to say, I agree with one person who said that when you’re a writer, if you don’t have a reader, the circle isn’t complete—your creativity is just hanging there waiting to be finished.
But for me, I’m compelled to publish what I write because of why I write. I’ve got stories to tell. I’ve got characters to create. I’ve got a message to get across.
What’s my message?
Well, my message is that it’s okay, everything’s going to be okay.
Life is hard. It’s emotionally draining. It’s physically taxing. But if you just stop and sit and read and relax everything else goes away for a little while. When you get up again to face Life, it’s easier to deal with. That’s what I want to give my readers. I want to give them a break. I want to make it easier to handle everything else. I want to help them to escape from Life and give them a touch of happiness, of being someone else, someplace else—just for a little while.
If sometimes I can convince them to be a little nicer to others through my stories, then, my goodness, I’m going to do that! If my stories teach people to be accepting of others no matter who they are or what they look like, you know I’m going to do that.
My stories always deal with someone who is “other” – from a different place, from a difficult culture, whatever. Yes, a lot of them are about that “other” trying to fit in and learn the rules of where they are, but it’s also about the people around them accepting who they are and that they are “other”.
We all want to fit in and we all also want to be accepted for who we are. My stories show this. They show people who are trying to do this, live this, and because they’re romances, they have a happily ever after. They succeed.
That’s why I publish. Because I want my readers to feel better. I want to give them an escape and, perhaps, to give them someone to relate to with the message that it’s going to be all right.
So, think about this as you struggle to write you stories: why do you want to publish? What’s driving you? And then share, if you will, because I’d love to hear your story, your reasoning, why you are doing this.
About Meredith
Merry grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was introduced to Regency romances at a young age by her mother, who had a secret passion for Georgette Heyer.
After graduating with a bachelor’s in Communication from the University of Pennsylvania, Merry worked in fundraising for a number of non-profit organizations. When this didn’t prove as fulfilling as she would have hoped, she went back to school for a master’s degree in secondary education where she shared her love of history with inner-city teenagers and tried to instill the same love in them — the jury’s still out on whether it worked. Marriage and the birth of two children interrupted her second attempt at a career.
In order to keep her sanity while raising her children, Merry began living in a fantasy world filled with dashing, noble heroes and beautiful heroines. Desperately searching for an excuse to put the children into daycare, Merry decided to write down her fantasies and call it “working”. She was amazed when someone other than her husband actually liked her writing.
https://meredithbond.com/
