Since I was young, I have always written stuff, song lyrics, poetry, short stories, and novels, over a whole range of genres, that seemed to me to be interesting and appealing at the time. There were never any serious ambitious intentions behind the writing, it was just something I liked to do. It was also a good way of socially interacting with other writers, I joined writers’ workshops when younger, learned from others, developed a little, and improved a bit.
What Is This Stuff?
Stuff is an interesting word to describe your creative output. It can almost be demeaning and quite self-effacing to describe something you have created out of thin air, as stuff. And describing it as something else, like, my writing, and following that with a long meaningful monologue of what you are trying to achieve as an artist, can sound very pretentious, especially from someone who makes very little from his writing output!
So, my writing is my stuff, it belongs to me as it was created by me, so I suppose I can call it whatever I want.
When I Was Young, I Experimented
Like most young people I tried different things (I’m just talking about writing here!). Different genres, different formats, fresh and original and novel concepts and ideas. Being young you are full of energy and ideas, and the creative process seems to flow so easily, words almost seem to leap from the keyboard to the page. If only we could all maintain that flow throughout life, then surely there would be a plethora of new and bright artists constantly coming to the fore throughout the generations.
Alas, life gets in the way, and people age.
Life Gets in the Way of a Good Story
It is as though one day, you have boundless energy, plenty of time to take advantage of that mountain of endless power, and the next day you begin to slow down. Pretty soon, your output falls dramatically, and free time becomes non-existent, or so rare, that all you want to do when you have some free time, is loaf about, recharging your batteries, till the free time has gone, and you have wasted it all.
What has happened?
Life has happened. Work has happened. Responsibilities have become the new priority in life. I gave up writing for years. I didn’t one day stop writing. It just happened over time and I forgot I was a writer. When you become an adult and have to earn a living to pay your way in life, then pretty soon, work takes over, and you work to pay, then you work to buy, then you work more to get more as this bill comes in, and this is needed for the car, and it is someone’s birthday coming up, or Christmas is approaching, and you have to save. Free time and especially time for writing, has gone the way of the Dodo, it is no more.
To Get Back to the Point
Why do I write? I do it because I can, again, though not as profusely. I do it because I enjoy coming up with stories that I think are enjoyable for me to write and read, and hopefully for others to read and enjoy as well. I think I am also not too shabby a writer, though I agree I cannot be truly subjective of my own stuff!
At the end of the day, it is a pastime I enjoy, and it does make me some pocket money now and then. I do wish sometimes I had a better grasp at marketing and self-promotion, but that side of publishing seems to take up so much time and expense. I am not interested in spending a great deal of time learning marketing, I would rather just write something new instead. I don’t have the budget for a big advertising campaign either. Besides, marketing and advertising, as well as taking up time, and money, fills me with dread and boredom, I would rather just write something new instead.
So, I write because I enjoy the process of writing. I enjoy being creative, and writing is one of the ways in which I express this creativity. I will go more into my process of writing, and what I am writing at the moment in other articles.
If you visit my homepage, steviemach.com, you will see a list of my books for sale. If you do take a chance and purchase one, if you enjoy it, please leave a review, it will be greatly appreciated.
Featured image at top of the page AI generated.