It seems to me that there are two questions buried in the subject line.
The stated: Why do you write?
I'm a late starter (a late bloomer? - well, I can hope). I've always wanted to write, though I can't really explain the desire. I had tried to start a few times, but it was only a few years ago that I finally found out how to do it (for want of a better explanation). I do know that actually writing is a lot different to what I ever imagined it to be, it is a far more involving experience than I expected. I've tried to explain the difference as: writing is to reading as reading is to watching a movie. And now I've started I find I can't stop ... not sure about "can't", I've not actually tried, I don't want to try. So my answer to the first question is simply: Because I want to, it gives
me pleasure. There are other things I could be doing (often there are other things that I
should be doing), but writing is what I
want to do.
The unstated: Why do you want others to read what you write?
This is one I'm still trying to work out. Yes I do want others to read my books, I would dearly love others to find that reading my books put them in the same place I find myself while writing them ... but I don't know if that's realistic. I know what joy I get from reading some books, it would be a buzz to think that my work could do the same for others ... but I don't know if that's realistic either. It's an odd dichotomy. I've never really wanted to be famous (though I think I'd like to give rich a try
), but I do like idea that people would might like what I've done. ... Maybe dadioflex is right, though it's not something I'd ever thought of myself before.