Fiction Addict

Travis Thrasher is truly one of our favorite authors and recently he shared some poignant thoughts on what makes him tick as a novelist. Enjoy!

I don’t write for money even though it sure comes in handy when paying the bills.

I don’t write for reviews though I love seeing good ones and learn something (well usually) when seeing bad ones.

I don’t write to see my name in print even though it still never does get old.

I don’t write to do book signings. In fact, if I never did another book signing I don’t think I’d miss the agony of being stared at like I have the bubonic plague.

I don’t write for fame and fortune because there are ten million other better ways to find them.

I write for myself.

Sounds selfish, I know. But that’s how it started as a lonely kid writing for himself.

Here are some other reasons I write.

I write in order to make sense of some small part of life. Perhaps it’s tackling a large theme, or wrestling with a question I might have, or exploring a character I find intriguing. Each of my stories is an attempt to try and understand something a little better.

I write out of fear. I write out my fears. I have so many and I try to exorcise them, whether it’s through a love story or a story about exorcisms. Fear creates drama, which is crucial to create conflict which is crucial for a story. I guess having fears in my life isn’t necessarily a bad thing, not when it comes to writing.

I write out of joy. Joy for life and those I love. Joy in the beauty of things big and small. Joy out of surprise. I try to fill in the gaps of stories full of fear with small bits of pleasure. The pleasure of love or of life.

I write to be moved the same way I’ve been moved time and time again. Reading takes me somewhere else, somewhere far away. I used to love this as a child and I still love it now. The only difference now is that I view a story through different filters, those of someone “older” and “wiser” (older, yes, but wiser?). I write to try and do the same thing—to take readers away and to ultimately move them. To evoke both fear and joy in the reader, to help them understand something, to help move them to an emotion through my pages.

I write out of hope. This doesn’t mean that every story and every page I write needs to share the GOSPEL MESSAGE OF JESUS CHRIST! But there is only one hope I have and it ultimately does rest in God the Father and the Son He graciously sent down to earth to save us all. I try to show that—sometimes in a major way, sometimes in subtle way. I’m sure I don’t get it right and I’m sure that others would prefer less or more. But once again, I write for myself first and foremost, trying to write the story I have to tell, trying to share something I need to share.

Why do I write? Because I have to. Like every other writer out there, I write because I need to.

Writing is a wonderful, miraculous, and wacky thing. To be paid to do it is truly wonderful. To hear that I’m doing it well is truly miraculous. And to try and figure it out (or to try and understand the publishing world)—well that’s just plain wacky.

My hope is that this desire that fills me daily never leaves. I don’t think it will.

For more info about Travis and his novels you can check out his website and follow him on Twitter.