by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: October 06, 2009

The difference between writing as a business and writing for fun is not necessarily as cut and dried as one may initially imagine. Whatever the reason for writing, it will always be done to best effect and the writer will always produce their best material when the process is at least partially fun.

Writing purely for fun is usually undertaken through a compulsion which the writer feels inside. There is no purpose to their writing, merely a desire and a need which has to be fulfilled. Writing in these instances may take the form of poetry, it may take the form of short stories or a never ending novel, or it may simply even take the form of writing in a diary or journal each night before bed.

Writing for fun is an excellent way in which to organise one's thoughts, even if it has no ulterior motive. There are times where getting words down on paper allows one to see a bigger picture more clearly or tackle a problem from a different angle. This can be an excellent way of finding solutions to issues within one's life, even where no one else will ever see the written words.

Writing for fun can be compared to writing as a business in the first instance where one wishes to find some publishing medium for the work which they have undertaken, which will in turn offer them some form of financial reward for their craft. This could be in the form of a newspaper or magazine publisher, a traditional novel publisher, or even an online publisher of articles or essays which perhaps rewards the writer dependant upon the number of page views their words attract. Writing of this type can remain fun for the writer to produce yet know the financial reward which their labours perhaps deserve.

Writing purely as a business can include writing articles, essays, or longer pieces as above but where the greatest motivation is financial reward. The dangers in this respect, however, are that if the writer does not enjoy what they are doing and have some degree of fun in producing their work, their words will come across to their readers as being somewhat jaded and even unauthentic. This may even prove to be the case with such as academic writers or technical writers.

The difference between writing as a business and writing for fun is simply in the perceived end result but it can hopefully be seen that in order for the best results to be achieved, a form of marriage of both motivations makes for the best outcome in the end.

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