Why do I write?

I wrote this in response to Sarah Weinman's latest blog:

I write first and foremost because I have to. It's a compulsion, to the point where I get really grumpy if I don't feed it. I also think it's the only way I have to make sense of the world.

After that, I write for publication. I was the quiet kid in school who never fit in any cliques - not even the geek cliques. My teachers thought I had talent, but no one else did. Being published overcompensates for the fact that almost everyone I knew in my "formative years" underestimated me.

Finally, I write for pay. We need a second income, but I loathe office work - again, never having fit in. I also want to stay home with my child. Writing fits neatly into my world: I have the compulsion and I have the ego. Why not make money at it?

Okay, that may have been a bit flippant. But it's pretty much the truth. I can't not write. Moreover, a lot of things had to fall just the right way to allow me to pursue this profession/vocation/calling/art/whatever. They're too numerous to list, and they might make me sound delusional. Suffice it to say that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, and pieces like Sarah's convince me more of that every time I read them. It's a wonderful thing to know what you want to do when you grow up.