This ain’t no hobby (or why creatives create)

​During a recent conversation, my writing was referred to as a hobby. It felt dismissive, devalued. So, I began to look at why. Why did I feel so hurt by the description?
 
When I think of a hobby, I think of something pleasurable, something done for fun, like growing tomatoes, or mountain biking, or knitting, or pickleball. A hobby is generally an activity done for recreation during leisure time, not something done for money or professional gain. Writing isn’t usually fun. Of course, there is an intrinsic reward when I see one of my books on someone’s shelf, or a reader comments on it, or (god forbid) compliments it. But sitting alone in front of my laptop day after day, struggling to craft a story? That’s not fun. Sometimes it’s downright torturous.
 
How do I convey my character’s inner moral conflict? How do I describe the morning sun hitting the river just so? How do I make my characters’ conversations sound true and honest? How do I move the plot along without losing the reader’s interest? There are a million things that go into writing a novel, choices to be made, pitfalls to avoid. It’s hugely rewarding to type in “The End”, but pleasurable along the way? Not usually.
 
So, why do it? Why do creatives create?
 
I believe artists (including writers) are creative by nature and are compelled by an inner, undefinable, motivation to practice their art. Some use their art to process their emotions, or to shape a chaotic and terrifying world around them into some kind of order. Others may create because the act of creating gives them joy. Artists use their work to give voice and expression to their beliefs or identity. Art allows people to share ideas and emotions. Artists communicate and connect to others via their medium. Others use art as a means of escape that allows them to turn off thinking and focus their energy on their work. It is a means of leaving a mark, and to contribute something to the world that will live on after we are gone.
 
There are a million reasons why artists create, each one individual to that particular artist. What is likely common ground is that creatives create because we must. There is an inner force that won’t rest unless it is exercised. There have been gaps in my life when I wasn’t writing. Sometimes they were short, sometimes long. But always, I felt something was missing inside. A need to write is just a part of me.
 
As a writer, I love language and words, and the way they connect to tell a story. My greatest wish is to tell stories that captivate and intrigue. I want to create a story to lose yourself in, characters to keep you company, to learn about a place you’ve never been to, and of course, to entertain. 
 
When the writing is going well, and everything is falling into place, the joy of writing is uniquely its own experience. When I’m deep into a story, I carry my characters around inside me, working out who they are, where they will go next, what they will say, what they fear and who they will love. Creating stories is an important part of me. As long as I can imagine a story, I will be compelled to tell it.
 
Even here I’ve turned your word into something. Call it a hobby, if you will. But to me, it’s so much more than that.
 
And in the meantime, happy reading!
Joni