WHY NOT TO WRITE

As if the writer's path weren't challenging enough, career specialist Penelope Trunk offers Five Reasons Not to Write a Book.

If you're looking for a platform for self-promotion or a surefire way to pad your bank account, book writing is hardly the way. I recently learned a new legal term for what I do: "voluntarily underemployed."

Offsetting Trunk's five reasons not to write books are at least five hundred reasons why we do. Ironically, most are imprecise, visceral, and hard to put into words. Like raising children, writing is hard work. It's an uncertain walk into foggy places. And if you can't revel in the sheer joy of something you can't fully explain, you probably shouldn't be doing it.