Why Write?

When I read books on writing, I find that I am asked questions about the motivations and aspirations of the protagonist and other main characters in my story.

I think it’s important to ask myself the same questions. What are my motivations? What are my aspirations? Why do I write?

Is it for fame or fortune? Not quite! Is it because I hold the answer to the biggest questions of our times? I wish!

The truth is actually quite simple. I write because it interests me. If I had any interest in woodworking, you would find me in a workshop. If I liked auto-mechanical work, you would find me restoring an antique car.

Closer to home, I have great admiration for musicians who are able to start with a simple idea in their head, which they cultivate until a finished product emerges in the form of a song or album. For me there is a parallel with writing in that I like the prospect of starting with the seed of an idea for a story. I enjoy spending time nurturing that idea to see what is ultimately created. That interests me.

In my story, The Killer Trail, the protagonist Chris Ryder is a social worker who accidentally becomes involved in the aftermath of a murder and must come to terms with his emotional, personal and work relationship with the killer before his own life (personal and professional) spirals out of control.

Does Chris Ryder hold the answers to the world’s problems? No, in actuality, the beginning of the story finds Chris struggling to make sense of his world. He lives in a world of gangland drive-by shootings. A world where victims pay the price while criminals manipulate the legal system. In Chris’s world he has become resigned to shrugging his shoulders as if to say “What can I do?”

But Chris’s fateful encounter with a ruthless killer forces him to realize that Ray Owens is the personification of all that is wrong with the justice system. Chris grows tired of turning a blind eye and walking the other way. In confronting Ray Owens, Chris takes a stand against injustice.

It interests me in seeing just how far Chris will go as he struggles between using just and unjust means to bring Ray Owens to justice.