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Google recently estimated that in modern history something like 130 million books have been published. The number increases by more than a million a year.

This week's Write Space by Ian Clarke.

Think what that represents in sheer human effort. Consider what it takes to get just one book published. The labour involved in creating 130 million of them makes building a pyramid pale by comparison.

Most modern books went through two, three or more rewrites before they were published. Until the 1980s almost all were written by hand or bashed out on mechanical typewriters. Yet the books that are published represent a small fraction of manuscripts submitted to publishers.

Writing has made a few authors rich: J K Rowling, John Grisham and Catharine Cookson come to mind. But the majority of writers can expect a pittance for their toil. Some might even envy the slaves who dragged huge blocks of limestone across the desert, for they at least were fed and sheltered for their labour.

So what drives this uniquely human passion for rearranging 26 symbols into endless streams of thought? The real drivers are intrinsic rewards, something the pyramid-building slaves of ancient Egypt might have lacked. They probably had different views from us about the joys of sunshine, sand and vigorous exercise.

Few of us would function in the modern world if we couldn't read and write. But the ability to write is much more than an essential utility. We can write to inform, persuade, manipulate. A good story is a powerful medium for moulding opinion. It has long been a political tool.

With creative writing the most satisfying aspects are difficult to pinpoint. We write because we want to write. An idea comes and we can't wait to write it down. The result may be a diamond and it may be dust. But that doesn't matter. It is our diamond or our dust. In her Write Space blog a few weeks ago, Jenny Argante said that each writer has a unique voice, something worth cultivating and bringing out.

Writing is a solitary habit, especially writing without a reader. That's where publication comes in – to reach readers. The journey to publication is long but it doesn't have to be a lonely one. Writers' groups help and support their members to achieve their dreams. There's one right here in town: Tauranga Writers Group. www.taurangawriters.org.nz