I
started making writer visits to middle-grade classrooms in the early ’80s. I
was a Cricket magazine author in my
spare time, writing and selling short stories. I’d made several cash sales by
then and seen my first story actually published by Cricket the year before. Getting to visit kids and their
teachers to read my stuff and to talk about writing, felt—still feels—like a
bonus.
The
‘money question’ surprised me, but probably shouldn’t have. It’s a way of
asking, “How successful are you? How important?” And we all do it, though not
usually so directly. An adult will always ask: “Are you published?” which is a
form of the same question.
It’s
fun to be paid for writing something creative. Money is a tangible reward we
all recognize and understand. But here’s the thing: money is not why most
writers write.
I
write because I like to tell stories and certainly am not immune to
praise—which includes cash. But I started writing at about age fourteen—songs
and poems, then stories. I wrote through college, went to teaching where I
saved my ideas all week, and wrote way late on Friday and Saturday. I wrote all
that time, and published, without even the hope of money.
The
fact is, writing feels good. It feels good to do and it feels good when someone
is moved by it.
My
cousin called from China to tell me he couldn’t go to bed without finishing one
of my mysteries. Can you imagine how good that feels?
These
days I get up at six and write for about two hours, an average of four
rough-draft pages, usually about six mornings a week. It feels right.
I’m
about halfway through my sixth novel. I have an adult series and a middle-grade
series. And I admit there are times when I ask myself about the money, and
occasionally times I fret about it.
But
here’s the thing. Would I be writing if nobody paid me for it?
Oh
… wait a minute … I am!
