I have heard this so often during the last 15 years. I don't believe it. If they were really writing for the joy of it, they would be writing in their journals - there would be no possibility of earning money, no possibility of recognition, applause, fame, and certainly, everybody would not be attending writing courses on learning how to write.

I think the real issue is that writing teachers, coaches, professors, etc., knowing that there is very little chance of any writer earning a liveable income, tell their students that they must write for the joy of it.

No other profession in the world does their job for the joy of it. As Harlan Ellison said in his video - Pay the writer - it's the amateurs who spoil it for the professionals, they don't realize they have to be paid (video on YouTube).

I think many people say they write for the joy of it because that is what they think they are supposed to say. I think that they are willing to continue to write gratis because they secretly hope one day they will get paid big bucks.

Unfortunately, just as some writing coaches won't tell their students that when 85% of Americans want to be writers, and only 5% of them are readers (in any real sense of the word), then the market is bloated with too many writers, and there is little chance of 'getting lucky.'

Writing sites, vanity publishers, professors take advantage of this ignorance, and because they have to be able to explain why writers aren't finding a market for their work, they tell their students that they must build up a readership by reading the stories of other writers, and that way they will build up a readership. This is where the big fairy story comes from that writers must support other writers.

That is nonsense. You don't find other professions telling each other they must support each other. Archiltects, accountants, interior designers - they are all in competition with each other. And so are writers - they are just in denial about it.

I was told more tgan 40 years ago that writers are always poor, and while they earned a great deal more than they do now even 25 years ago , compared to other professions, it is not a profession that is well paid.

Writing sites are there for the profit of the owners. End of the year profits need to be paid out soon. If writers are willing to write just for the joy of it, why should anyone pay them?