Many writers don’t know how difficult a writer’s life actually is. Part of this could be ignorance but part of it is simply not trying to at all. Writers are a different kind of folk, this much is true. Writers typically love to be alone and to work on their own. They enjoy writing, reading, and thinking. Some writers are introverts, and enjoy solitude too. So, writers can remain an enigma to other people. But a writer’s life is not easy. Writers usually have to balance family life, careers, and their writing. They have to find time to write. They have to beg family and friends to understand their writing constraints, and the fact that they must skip yet another outing because of a deadline or simply because they want to make time for their writing. It is natural to wonder, why do writers even bother? There is something about writing that draws a person in and encourages them, even forces them to write. There is a cleansing feeling to writing, a feeling that you’re trying to understand more about yourself and others with each word that you write. In other words, writers are trying to make sense of the world. Nothing compares to that feeling-which is why some writers will write regardless of how hard it is to find time to write. Then there’s the finished product, when it gets published. What a feeling to hold your very own book for the first time. Nothing compares to it, believe me. However, despite the pleasures of writing, the writer’s life is fraught with difficulty because most of the world doesn’t understand a writer’s life. Most people don’t know why writers bother to write. But writers know why they write, and true writers will make the time to write, regardless of how hard it is for them to convince others to honour the space they need to get their work done. Irene S. Roth, MA Freelance Writer Specialist for Teens and Tweens