What is it to be a writer? What is the purpose? What does it mean?
I don't think anyone can answer those questions easily. I also don't believe there is any such thing as a wrong answer, everyone has a different reason for choosing the path that they walk in life, and that is just as it should be. But, for what it's worth, here are my answers to those questions.
Regardless of race, colour, creed, religion, we all have one important and unique thing in common. We dream, we fantasize, we imagine ourselves in situations vastly different to those we have experienced. This is a unique and very precious gift. For most of us, those dreams never leave the confines of our own heads, becoming islands of calm that we can constantly retreat to in order to escape the myriad pressures of our day to day lives. These are private islands, private spaces, safe havens where no one else is allowed to roam. We rarely discuss them, even with those we love and trust the most. But writers, they're different.
A writer has a unique ability that goes beyond the mere words they put on paper. It is the gift of trust, of openness, the willingness to take one or more of their personal islands and extend an invitation to the reader to come and join them there. This ability to take something so personal and throw it open to such intense public scrutiny is truly remarkable, a selfless act which should never be underestimated. Writers freely offer us a piece of themselves every time they commit their words to paper. But why do they do this?
Well, I can't speak for every writer in the world, past and present, it would be far too presumptuous of me to even attempt that. What I can do, is tell you why I do it. The stories in my head, the islands I visit, they are as real to me as anything in the material world and, while I revel in the peace that my infrequent excursions to these places bring, I recognize that, without companions, they can be very lonely and two-dimensional. In order for my islands to really come to life, I need to share them, as far and as wide as I possibly can. I need others to feel what I feel, to enjoy, appreciate, even come to love the creations my mind has wrought.
So this is why I write. There are those who wish to change the world around them through the medium of their words. I have no such lofty goals. I may have a similar dissatisfaction with elements of the real world but, rather than try to change it, I seek to create on my island sanctuaries, worlds where those dissatisfactions simply do not exist. These are the places over which I have complete control and, if I am successful in my aims then these are also places that need to be shared.
In that sense then, every novel that I write is an open invitation to the reader. Come with me on what is a very personal journey. Explore my world with me and if you like it there, then you are welcome to stay for as long as you like, for once created, these islands, these worlds will remain long after I am gone.
