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Hello Emberians! (or whatever we ended up calling ourselves). I have a certain question I’ve been pondering for a while and I’d love to hear some other thoughts on it:

What do you think is the purpose or end of writing? In other words, why should writers write?

Specifically, I’m thinking about this in regards to publication. There are so many people trying to get published these days that it seems getting published itself has become the purpose of being a writer.

Yet, I’ve asked people why they are writers, and I can’t recall one of them saying they are a writer because they want to get published. They usually say they’re writers because they want to communicate truth, tell untold stories, etc.

That got me wondering: should publishing even be one of our goals as a writer? If we are writers because we want to, say, process things we’re feeling, why should we get published?

Or are we obligated in some way to get published, because God has gifted us with a story and we should naturally be trying to get it to as many people as possible? Is simply writing for ourselves and just showing our stories to friends and family a misuse of the gift and desire God has given us to write? Should we be trying to get our writing to as many people as possible through publication?

We work hard to improve our craft — why? So we can get published and give people quality stories? If someone doesn’t want to get published, do you think it’s even worthwhile for them to work and improve their writing?

If we write to glorify God and point others toward Him through our stories, is it wrong and selfish to not want to put in the effort to get our work to as many people as possible?

Anyway, that was a lot of questions — I dearly love the Socratic method and it’s become my brain’s primary way of thinking as of late 😛 I’m not necessarily looking for a “right or wrong” answer; any thoughts and more discussion questions would be great. I’d love to hear your take on what you think the goal of being a writer is.

@josiah @daeus-lamb @hope-ann @kate @karthmin @gabrielle-pollack @jane-maree @brandon-miller @anyone