Writers often ask themselves, “What is the point of writing if no one reads my work? Okay, yes, this sounds like the beginning of a pity party, but it is a valid question. Even so, there are a lot of high-sounding reasons why the answer is that I should indeed continue to write.
What I am looking for, however, is something original that goes to the heart of this question.
One answer, for example, is that the point of writing is to “think deeply and to inform, entertain, and communicate your insight with your readers.” Yes, I found that answer by googling this question, so okay, it still is a starting point for the question.
I can go with “thinking deeply” because just pulling sentences together requires that, and, as far as I can tell, the more we do this, the better we become. However, this benefit’s point isn’t to communicate with readers, since that is the problem. There are no readers!
We can inform and entertain ourselves, but the real problem becomes apparent when readers are required. As I previously said, there aren’t any readers.
Another point for writing is to seek the truth. It doesn't matter how you do that or whether you're writing thrillers, detective stories, comedies, website posts, or picture books for children. When you write, you often must validate what you say, which is a worthy goal for someone who writes. As Stephen Pressfield writes in The War of Art, “We must do our work for its own sake, not for fortune or attention or applause.”
Writing also forces you to open your eyes to the world to ensure your story makes sense. When you open your eyes to all around you, your ideas find new connections. You can catch up on lost time and gain insight beyond your capabilities by reading more. This opens you to new feelings and experiences. The more you learn about this world, the more you realize how much you don't know. In this way, writing keeps you humble and open to more knowledge.
Author and marketing guru Seth Godin produces blog posts daily, saying, “Even if no one reads your blog, the act of writing it is clarifying, motivating, and (eventually) fun.” He adds that “after people get to posting 200 [posts] or beyond, they uniformly report that they’re glad they did it.” (Taken from Why Writing Content Is Useful, Even If Nobody Reads It - Forbes
Even when no one will likely read it, the real point of writing is that it is clear evidence for you to know that you are a writer. Writers write because they must write.
Is there a point to writing if no one ever reads it? →
About Writing