It’s the end of the world. Authors have all become zombies, and are no longer writing. What do we do? Oh wait, there are still some authors around. But what are they going to do, stop writing or ignore the undead? This week’s question is brought to us by H. Anthe Davis.
Question 22: Barring a zombie apocalypse, is there anything that could make you stop writing?
Absolutely not. Not even if it were detrimental to my health (which, sometimes, I think it may be). I would find a way. I always have.
I don’t even think a zombie apocalypse could stop me from writing. The truth is that aside from the obvious things like wanting to be read (and hoping that income comes as a result), I mostly write because it’s something I enjoy with all my heart. Even if I were told today that no one would ever read any of it and nothing would ever come of it, I would still write because it makes me happy.
That said, if we’re talking about all possibilities, I suppose going blind would probably make me stop writing. Or if I became so destitute that I couldn’t even afford pens and paper. But I’m gonna go ahead and sincerely hope that neither of those things ever happens.
Do you really think a zombie apocalypse would even slow me down? No, nothing would stop me from writing. I have stories that need to be told. I’ll tell them. I don’t think any true storyteller could ever stop.
I intend to write until I die of old age, or get smooshed by a car, or whatever ends up happening. I have also made plans with one of my writer-friends to keep my notes in a shared folder, so that if I do get smooshed by a car, she can finish off some of my storylines. Since I have a long series in the works, making sure it ends properly is my first concern. Will I eventually run out of ideas? ….Doubtful.
Why should a zombie apocalypse stop me? What else am I going to do when I have downtime in my shelter? Besides, with the apocalypse being one of my favorite topics for writing, it’s perfect for subject material.
The only thing that has ever made me totally stop writing was having babies. I have a hard time being creative in any manner when I’m utterly exhausted and there’s another being that utterly reliant on me for survival. Asking someone to watch them while I was off doing my own thing led to guilt, and while exhausted, that just led to depression, and that is not a good place to be in. Once those beings were in a mobile and even remote state to provide for themselves, I was back at the computer, even if that meant blocking out twenty screaming kids so I could write for ten minutes between them crying because they got hit in the head in the McDonald’s ball pit.
I’ve actually tried to stop a few times—mostly because of time issues and guilt. It’s hard to be a parent and a writer, I’ve decided, since writing takes me away from my kids at times. However, I’ve never succeeded for long. I may stay away from my writing projects for a few days or even a few weeks, but I swear they call to me. I find myself obsessed with some idea, and the next thing I know, I’m writing again. So, I guess my answer to the initial question is I doubt anything could make me stop writing.
Completely with no chance of starting back? I don’t think so. Well, maybe if I totally lost my ability to focus, or lost my hands or something.
Too many things could make me stop writing. Seriously sick children, my husband losing his job, a massive hurricane. I have the time to write because everything else is OK. I don’t treat it as my job, I should but I don’t. I do it because I want to and I enjoy it. I write in small bits of time between work, school, and family obligations. If one of those responsibilities is thrown out of whack, writing is put on hold. If you are talking about a permanent stop….death.
Honestly, I think I’d write through a zombie apocalypse. In fact I’d make sure to give the zombies a pen along with my brain so I still wouldn’t have to stop. But in all seriousness, the only thing that could stop me from writing would be if something happened to my kids. They are the only thing in my life that’s more important than writing.
Would zombies even stop me? Well, I need an audience, so I would hope we’d win the war against the zombies and repopulate the world, then I’d have many books to publish.
But really, I’ve been rather slow at writing while I have little privacy at home. But it doesn’t stop me from writing. If I lost my hands or the use of my hands, I’d probably dictate. If I could only move my eyes, I’d do what Stephen Hawking does. I think the only way I’d stop writing is death.
How about you?
What would stop you from writing? Would anything stop you? Let us know in the comments below.
I Read Encyclopedias for Fun 
Zombies schmombies! Family is where it’s at. 🙂 Great answers!
What if the family is a zombie family?
Errrr… .can’t beat ’em, join ’em? 😛
Reblogged this on The War of Memory Project and commented:
So what we see here is that only death and children can stop a writer from writing.
Reblogged this on North of Andover and commented:
Worried that, in the event of a zombie apocalypse, you won’t have any more good books to read because no one will be writing anything?
I DID stop writing for about a decade. I wanted to avoid the attention that being a writer — putting my stories out there for people to see, even if only online — could bring. The thing is, even when I was actively forcing myself not to write, I was making up stories in my head, creating new characters and following the lives of old ones, expanding timelines and settings. I think I would continue to do that even if I actually lost all ability to put words on the page.
Also, there are two of us. 🙂 If I couldn’t write simply because I couldn’t see at all or because I couldn’t type or whatever, I’d just tell my stories to my clone, and he’d do the putting-words-on-the-page thing for me. This isn’t too far from what happens occasionally anyway.
Well, you have a backup plan, it seems. I have no one in my family that would continue writing for me.
I love everyone’s answers. Whatever would make me stop writing, it’d have to be something that is completely out of my control, like death. Until then, I like to think I’d find a way. But if someone paid me millions upon millions to stop writing, I just might. Then I’d write in secret. So then I’m back to death being the only reason.
Haha. And what if they discover that you started writing again? Would they take the millions away from you?
Good point. I’m thinking off-shore accounts . . .
If someone were to offer me that much money to stop writing, I’d wonder why it was so important to them/what they were up to, and I’d refuse to quit.
Very true. But starting an underground writing society sounds intriguing.
Sounds like a story to write!
Writers are honestly the best.
I agree!
Reblogged this on No Page Left Blank and commented:
Could zombies stop me from writing? Nah. I’d just write (more) about them!
This week the authors and I talk about what (if anything) could possibly make us stop writing.
Reblogged this on On the Edge of Enlightenment and commented:
Most writers would never quit writing without a very strong reason.