IWSG: Real Reasons vs. Acceptable Reasons

~ J.S. Pailly

Hello, friends!  Welcome to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, a blog hop created by Alex J. Cavanaugh and cohosted this month by Victoria Marie Lees, Kim Lajevardi, Nancy Gideon, and Cathrina Constantine.  I’ve been an IWSG member for many years now, over on my previous blog, but this is my first IWSG post here on my new blog, I Love Space.  If you’re a writer, and if you feel insecure about your writing life, click here to learn more about this amazingly supportive group and to see a list of participating blogs.

I just got back from an event in Washington D.C., an event where ordinary citizens (as opposed to professional lobbyists) got a chance to advocate for space exploration to U.S. lawmakers.  I’ll have more to say about that in upcoming blog posts.  Stay tuned!  But there was one aspect of this experience that felt super relevant to the challenges of being a writer.

This is a picture of me with Bill Nye.  You probably know him as “the Science Guy,” but he’s also the current C.E.O. of the Planetary Society, the non-profit group that organized the space advocacy event in D.C. which I attended.

I’ve often felt like there’s an easy and obvious metaphor to be made between pursuing a writing career and running the U.S. space program.  Both involve big dreams and lofty aspirations.  Both involve shooting for the stars, so to speak.  Both also involve some harsh economic realities.  And in both cases, balancing those big dreams against those economic realities can be a real challenge.

As former NASA administrator Mike Griffin put it, there are the “real reasons” we explore space (our curiosity, our sense of awe and wonder), but there are also the “acceptable reasons” we must use to justify space exploration to Congress (job creation, spin-off technologies, planetary defense, and so forth).  In a similar way, for us writers, there are the “real reasons” we write, but then there are the “acceptable reasons” we must use to justify ourselves if/when we chose to pursue writing as a career.

For me, the real reasons I write are, in fact, the same as the real reasons NASA exists: a sense of awe and wonder about the cosmos, plus a deep sense of curiosity about what else might be out there.  That’s why I write this blog about space.  And that’s also why I want to pursue a career writing science fiction.  As for my “acceptable reasons,” well… I’m still working on those.  Plenty of cynical people in my life have told me that my writing is good, but that I should stick to a more sensible, more economically viable career path.  I’m never sure what to say to these people.  But I’m working on it.

So, my fellow writers, what are the “real reasons” you write, and what are the “acceptable reasons” you use to justify yourself if you’re pursuing writing as a career?

P.S.: Former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin was recently interviewed on the Planetary Society’s podcast, as part of the lead-up to their big event in D.C.  Click here to hear what Griffin himself has to say about the real reasons vs. the acceptable reasons for space exploration.

Published by J.S. Pailly

22 thoughts on “IWSG: Real Reasons vs. Acceptable Reasons”

  1. The thing is, or so I believe, is that a lot of people still don’t see speculative fiction writing, or the aspirations to becoming a writer as viable. Growing up my own mother, then later my ex husband, would tell me it was all well and good to have a hobby, but I needed to look at a ‘proper’ job. Years later, I’ve had loads of those, and still I write, and have published one novel myself on the dreaded Amazon and am editing two more.

    I write because I have stories to tell and an imagination that won’t let up. I love the sound of the keys clicking as words appear on the screen, I love that the stories that have lived inside of me finally get to come out and hopefully become loved stories of those who read them.

    The acceptable reason is to make money (not done that yet), but those who are related still live in hope.

    Oh, and I loved this post. Thanks for sharing today.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Sounds like the same thing I keep hearing: nice hobby, but you need a real job. And yes, you need a way to pay the bills while beginning a writing career. But with patience and dedication, lots of people build successful careers as writers. No reason we can’t do the same.

      Like

      Reply

    1. That is very true. And I’ve heard from many writers that they’ve found ways for their writing careers and regular careers to compliment one another.

      Like

      Reply

  3. The real reason for me is just to explore ideas, and in the case of the blog, to have conversations about them. In the case of writing fiction, it’s to dramatize those ideas, to basically share my daydreams about them.

    I never did a good job on the acceptable reasons, which is why most of my writing will (hopefully) happen in retirement.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Well said. One of the things that’s kept me blogging is getting to discuss my research with others before I put that research into a story.

      As for the idea of waiting until retirement to do most of my writing, that’s a possibility I have considered. Some major changes have occurred in my life recently, and I anticipate more major changes are coming. Whether that will make a writing career easier or harder, I do not yet know. For now, I’m keeping my options open.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I don’t really advocate waiting until retirement. There were periods in my career when my job wasn’t that demanding and I probably could have produced good stuff. I regret not taking advantage of those periods. (Although there was no way to know how long they would last.)

        Liked by 1 person

      2. It’s not exactly my ideal option either, but if a nice opportunity comes up for me right now (for example, something related to my art), I’m open to that even if it means writing has to wait.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. There’s a lot to be said for letting a job you enjoy take priority. In that sense, I don’t regret my IT career, since I have often enjoyed it, particularly since it’s paid the bills.

        Like

  5. Real reasons vs. Acceptable reasons? Well …

    The real reasons for me would be that I enjoy living in my characters’ heads. They are much smarter than I’m. Much braver and kinder too. I could never compete with my characters as a human being, but I get to spend time with them, get to feel we’re friends. Get to help them with their problems. Never mind I invented those problems in the first place.

    The acceptable reasons – I’m not sure what those are. Probably none. No money. No fame. No job. I don’t think these reasons exist for me, to be honest.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Writing in recent years has become therapeutic for me. I’ve always been the type to hold things in (introvert and all), and letting them out through partially autobiographical fictional stories has helped so much with my mental well being. Also I have such an overactive imagination. If I didn’t write my daydreams, I’d never sleep lol.

    As for “acceptable reasons,” hmmm, what do people consider “acceptable” these days? Like you, I have people in my life who think I’m completely wasting my time if I’m not making money off it. I guess the “self-therapy” could count. Of course someone could say, “Why don’t you just go to actual therapy?” But where’s the fun in that?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I feel like self-therapy is a great reason, both as a real reason and an acceptable one. And if you did go to therapy, your therapist would almost certainly agree. The times I’ve been in therapy, getting me back to my writing routine has always ended up being a top priority.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  8. I write because I have to write…a few days of not producing something, I get antsy.
    I write short fiction—speculative and horror for the most part—and have sold a few stories to magazines in the past. Now, I mostly write poetry, but intend to share some of my fiction on my site here.
    I’m no longer interested in being published, but I encourage you to go for it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I get what you mean about not being interested in being published. It’s still a goal I have, and I’m going to keep pursuing it. But there was a time when getting published was my whole mission in life, and that was unhealthy.

      But I still love to write, and like you, I get antsy if I’m not working on something for more than a day or two.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Persistence WILL pay off. It took me a while to get my first story published, but I kept sending out and eventually, it hit the right person at the right time.
        Good luck to you!

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment