Why I Don’t Want to Be a Writer
Yes, I realize the irony. Read on.
Every day, I receive notifications telling me that writers on Medium have just published more articles on the subject of writing. These tend to cover everything from basic writing mechanics to how to make thousands of dollars each month on Medium without even trying. I’ve been reading these works for over a year now, but the one thing I really want to know about writing has yet to be discussed:
Why would I want to be a writer?
True to form, whenever I am pondering this question, I start making a list of pros and cons. These lists (there are seventeen, at last count) do vary somewhat, but they boil down to essentially the same things:
Pro:
- I can work when and where I choose. No one will look at me or judge me while I’m writing, so I will feel safe.
Con:
- People will look at my writing and judge it. Their judgment of my writing constitutes their judgment of me, so I will never feel safe.
And therein lies the conundrum: My desire to write is, I feel sure, based on my basic, common-to-all-humans need to not just connect with my fellow humans, but to express something about who I am — but I am simultaneously terrified about this level of exposure. How can I tell the world who I am…
