Oh, why write?

Samuel Johnson once said "No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money." But let's put a footnote on that quotation: He spent years laboring on writing the English language's first dictionary. Lord Chesterfield offered to help and then provided no financing. With no money coming in for that project and no assurance that the thing would sell once it got published, Johnson, the original harmless drudge, forged on. After nearly ten years, right before Samuel Johnson finished the work, Lord Chesterfield sent a letter to Johnson saying something to the effect that he assumed it would be dedicated to him. Johnson fired back with one of the most sarcastic letters of all time. The dictionary sold when it was finally published, but did Johnson really just write it for the money?

If you're not only in it for the money, why else write? Make up your own reason. Without attempting to list my reasons here, I will list one of the components of my motivation, which is something I remind myself constantly: Don't quit just because other people are better at it than you (otherwise there would only be one writer in the world, which would obviate the need for William Saroyan's observation that there is always someone better than you--but you are always better than someone).

One writer who is better than me is Orhan Pamuk, the Turk who won the Nobel Prize in Literature 2006. BBC Worldwide has posted videos and transcripts, including in English, of his recent Nobel acceptance speech. I haven't read Pamuk's books, but even his list of reasons for writing are better than my writing. Well, we all have to start somewhere, and, besides, I'm better than someone (I hope).