Is Writing Worth It?

The girl shifted her hands on the table, her restlessness speaking to a nervousness. She looked up at Clare Vanderpool with a sheepish grin and asked, “Is writing worth it in the long run?”

Clare Vanderpool raised her eyebrows. “What a great question. Because you have to ask yourself questions like, ‘what if I never get published…’”

That same week, Allen Arnold asked a classroom of us young authors, “If your work doesn’t change anyone until 100 years after you’re dead, is it worth it?” And then he played a clip from Doctor Who (see the end of the post for the video) that almost made me cry (but I’ll attribute that to a sketchy amount of sleep that week).

Since that writers’ conference in June, I’ve asked myself the same question: is writing worth it? Why am I doing what I’m doing? Am I obsessed? Do I need to get a real life? Am I overconfident in my work? Am I worshipping story instead of the Storyteller? Is my work really going to change anyone? While I 100% plan on publishing…what if it never happens?

And then I started thinking about what has happened to me since starting this journey in 2014. Writing has made me a better, prouder citizen of my country; it’s drawn me closer to God; it’s set me in pursuit of serving military members; it’s introduced me to an amazing community that I love with all my heart. I have new friends, friends that “get me,” and a safe place to share my mind.

I will never be the same as I was five years ago. I don’t want to go back, because this is infinitely better.

Only a handful of people have read my writing. A couple are people I’ve never met. I don’t know if it’s changed their lives at all. I can only trust God that it has. And if it doesn’t change anyone in my lifetime, maybe it will reach that one person in 100 or even 1000 years. Or maybe it’s already changed the one person, even if I never get published. Maybe that one person is me.

So yes. For me, writing is worth it. It’s shaken my life, flipped it upside down, pushed me onto a path I never imagined. And, to use the McDonald’s slogan, I’m lovin’ it.

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Is writing worth it for you? Share why in the comments!

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