Recently, while doing research I found several excellent articles about women and writing. I also found a set of Ted Talk podcasts from two well-known women writers, Isabel Allende and Amy Tan.

It was Ms. Tan’s account of childhood experiences and Ms. Allende’s Tales of Passion that got me thinking about how our experiences shape us and how they bleed into our own unique creative realm. As such, each story we weave has the potential to invoke a wide range of emotions in our readers.

As one would imagine writers from all walks of life have very different reasons for writing. Below is a common thread among modern day writers:

• Leave a legacy

If you write a book well and publish it, you may actually leave something behind that can last forever.

• Incite

Writers write what the world is like as they see it. Writers ask the difficult questions. And, this boundless curiosity is the foundation that opens the doors to discussing difficult topics.

• To stay sane

To write the endings we wish to see in the world. To make peace with the things we cannot control.

Why do you write?