The dreamthey are self-explanatory, I hope. The fourth, self-esteem, means valu-
ing oneself and being valued by others. The fifth, self-actualization, is
going beyond oneself: being creative, finding joy in learning and
discovery, becoming altruistic, loving all humanity.
As you can see, I'm sure, we all experience a mixture of these
motives. We are also a society whose basic needs are, for the most
part, satisfied. There is homelessness and hunger in America, to be
sure, but by and large we are well-fed, decently housed, and over-
sexed. And so we seek to fill higher needs.
Hoop dreams, Oprah, "recovery," the lottery... there are many
ways for people to obtain public recognition. For some of us—espe-
cially the bookish, unathletic, socially uneasy among us—writing
novels is a natural path to this type of self-esteem. Writing lets us
stay at home. It carries us away from what is unpleasant in everyday
life, while at the same time instantly conferring upon us the mysti-
cal status of "novelist." Even if you have not yet published, your
friends are sure to be impressed when you tell them you are work-
ing on a novel.
But that is only one side of the motivation coin. Most everyone
who writes sooner or later discovers the pleasure inherent in the
process. There is something indescribably wonderful about getting
the words right. Finding a side to one's hero that one did not know
existed is a singular joy. A funny line can make one burst out laugh-
ing. Killing a beloved character can make one cry.
There is also a deep satisfaction in the growing mastery of the
craft. Like all creative endeavors, novel writing rewards practice.
Many accomplished novelists sit down to write largely for the chal-
lenge of trying to write something bigger, better, more profound
than before. For the dedicated novelist, there is no end of stories to
tell. Some of my clients tell me that they have more ideas for nov-
els than they can use in a lifetime.
There is more than grubby ego gratification here. In the pure, joy-
ful time spent in the world of one's current novel, there can be dis-
covery and surrender of oneself in service of the story. It can be a
release from self. That is writing for its own sake.
Or maybe not entirely for its own sake... every once in a while I
come across a novelist who writes because he or she has something