What’s the Best Thing about Being a Writer?

“We work in the dark—we give what we can—we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.” - Henry James

Recently, Oprah magazine interviewed six writers. One of the interview questions was, “What’s the best thing about being a writer?” The answers varied. Mary Gaitskill replied, “The best thing about writing is being able to clearly express things in a way you can’t express in conversation.” Jeffrey Eugenides said, “It’s that, no matter how long you’ve been at it, you always start from scratch.”  Then Eugenides supplied the Henry James quote that I used above.

For me, the best thing about writing is the craft. Perhaps wordsmithing describes it best. It’s the organization, the choice, the tone, and the rhythm.  It is the play of vowel upon consonant, the thought which can be sculpted so many different ways, and the evolution of ideas. I just like to write.

What do you like about being a writer?