WHY DO YOU WRITE?

*jerks to attention from somewhere in 1776 and realizes I was supposed to send out a ProseWorthy post today*
 
So sorry, ladies and gentlemen. I graduated last week, when I was actually supposed to send my post out. And then I wrote seventy-something thank-you cards.
 
And after writing seventy-something different ways to say thank you (just in case people compare notes), your imagination is basically shot.
 
When you don’t know what to write . . . look for pretty graphics (see below). 

Admittedly, I have used all these reasons at one point or another.
 
Why do you write? For any of these reasons? What makes you keep going when you’re slamming your head against the brick wall of writer’s block? What makes you keep going when someone gives you “THE LOOK” when you tell them you’re a writer? What makes you keep going when you realize how horrible your grammar was in that chapter?
 
Do you keep writing because you hope writing will make you famous? Do you keep writing because you hope it will make you lots of money? (You might as well stop. It won’t. At least, not for a while.) Do you keep writing because you hope it will make people like you? Do you keep writing just because you like writing?
 
Then what happens when your book doesn’t take off or make you famous or make you money? What happens if you don’t like writing anymore?
 
The reason why we write is far deeper than any of the others. We write because God has given us the gift to write. And we write because He has given us that gift to use. To glorify Him.  To make a difference.
 
And perhaps also because we like naming our characters cool names.