A reflective essay exploring why writers write, revealing that beyond financial gain, authors seek control, emotional catharsis, and immortality through storytelling—ensuring their unique voices and untold stories live on beyond their lifetime.
Influential Woman · Author
Katherine Pritchett
Author, Katherine Pritchett, Author
Pratt, KS
2026Years experience
1Article published
1Award received
Her Story
About Katherine
Katherine Pritchett is a full-time author with approximately 50 years of writing experience. She retired after 34 years with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, the last several years as the State Trail Coordinator. In that role she coordinated trail grants, wrote articles, briefing papers, legislation, and grant applications, as well as representing the state at various meetings. She has authored four novels, encompassing two series with standalone titles in the works. She serves as vice president of the Kansas Writers Association she has been part of for over 20 years. After graduating from junior college, she married and had three children, working a variety of jobs, such as teacher's aide and home daycare. She later completed her bachelor's degree through a local college with a major in business and a minor in religion. One notable review described her second book, The Judas Seat, as an unput-downable masterpiece. In the writer's group, she mentors others and participates in mutual support and promotion of members' work, yet she learns something from every meeting and conference she attends. Her approach to storytelling involves placing ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances to reveal true grit and heroism, while ensuring research is accurate and storylines remain logical. She draws upon her work background, that of her ex-husband who was in law enforcement and emergency services, her partner's farming and teaching background, and her family's public service.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Katherine
01What do you attribute your success to?
When I grew up on the farm, my brother was already grown and gone from home. My mom worked 17 miles away and my dad had more than he could do to run the farm, as he had no help besides me. I was too little to do much, so my dog and I stayed with the pickup while he worked the fields. That pickup became a ship, a tree house and many other things. I also followed my dad on walks in the pasture to find cows. I never remember finding a cow, but we did find gooseberries and persimmons. Through these years, I had to entertain myself for the most part, hanging out with the mother cats and babysitting their kittens. I got to feed the chickens. They would follow me whenever I had a bucket, so I would take a bucket, set it in front of the hay wagon, climb up and give the chickens a concert. My imaginary life and reading whatever I could fostered a love of language. In school, I loved lit class, took all the English classes, served on the school newspaper, and edited a literary magazine for the school. I started a novel the day I finished my last class in community college. After marriage, I worked on more novels (in the days before computers). I attended a writing seminar by an author. His response to my submitted work was a full page of critiques. But at the bottom he wrote, "But, lady, you are a natural writer. Keep at it and you'll get there." That was taped to my typewriter, then word processor, then each computer to keep me going. After the death of my writer fiance, I realized that my kids, grandkids, and even partner will have to go on without me someday, but no one knows the books I can write but me. So I keep writing to get as many of them into the world as possible. I need to write faster!
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Read a lot and connect with other writers to pick their brains. Writers groups have been invaluable for learning new things, mentoring, and mutual support.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Get a good education in writing backed up by psychology, political science, journalism, news, or history to understand people and motivations. Follow sources like Heather Cox Richardson for patterns in history. Read, read, read. Ask questions, particularly "Why?"
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Biggest challenge is ensuring research is correct and storyline is logical without contrived elements. Take ordinary people and put them into extraordinary circumstances to reveal true grit and heroism. Connecting to readers is also a challenge, because algorithms based on key words or numbers of reviews drive what books are suggested to readers. A social media presence is essential, as is giving talks and presentations. This can sometimes be challenging as writers are often solitary creatures.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity. It's hard to maintain, easy to lose and almost impossible to gain back. But it is essential to having a society that functions.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Katherine
Why Do I Write?
Exploring the Deep Motivations Behind Why Writers Put Pen to Paper
I recently facilitated a discussion at the Kansas Writers Association meeting about “Why do you write?” I led with, “We do it for the big bucks all writers make, right?” Sadly, only about 20 writers in North America make a living from writing fiction. So, what really drives us?
I write to have control over something. In the worlds I’m writing in, I control who does what, who wins, who loses, and who gets justice. In a world where bosses control what we do, the economy controls what we have, and the administration in charge controls what quality of life we have, we need a place we can control. And it’s fun to imagine a punishment for a deserving soul without going to jail for it.
Years ago, my desk was in the basement. I went down there to be away from the demands of the family. Very quickly, our dog came into the basement to lie at my feet. Then one kid after another came down. One came to play video games, creating his own world under his (more or less) control. Then the two youngest came down, playing He-Man and She-Ra, G.I. Joe, Barbies, or My Little Pony. They were creating a sometimes-absurd world, but one they controlled. Then my husband (now ex) would come down to work on his model railroad.
The trains seldom ran on the tracks, but he created small mountains, a lake, and a town. It even had an elk and a bear. It was a really cool setup. He spent months creating it, aided by his best friend, who didn’t have room at his house. Then the friend was killed in a freak head-on collision. I’m not sure my ex ever recovered from the trauma of the loss. Soon after, he dismantled the train set, tore up the mountains and the roadways, and boxed up the trains and buildings.
And yet, that control is illusory. Sometimes the characters we create take on a life of their own. I had to come up with a new ending for What the River Knows because the character I had planned as the killer refused to do the deed, leading to another character taking over and giving the plot an intriguing twist.
Some members of marginalized groups write to give structure to the happy endings they can only dream of. Some write to purge past trauma, such as divorce, the death of someone they love, or violence. Some write to get justice for a wrong done.
The voices and movies in our heads sometimes seem more real than the world we live in. They talk to us, even when we don’t intend to listen to them. Once, when I was walking (being walked by) our Labrador retriever, Bart, who is the subject of “Diary of a Wimpy Dog,” I noticed a haze hanging in the air. “Hmm, wonder if that’s smoke or dust.” Before I even completed the thought, a character from a book I wasn’t sure I was going to write said tersely, “Dust settles, smoke rises.” Okay, then, I guess it was dust. Until my firefighter son told me about heavy smoke. Ruined a perfectly good story.
I can’t not write. The characters and storylines wander around in my head, waiting to be given life on the page. The notes and ideas scream from my file folders, “Pick me! Pick me!” Finding inspiration for what book to write isn’t a problem. Finding the time to structure and plot is.
But the real reason I write came to me shortly after the death of my fiancé. It brought home to me how fleeting life is. I realized that my kids, grandkids, and friends will have to go on without me one day. It’s inevitable. But no one knows, no one else can give voice to, the books and stories I want to write. Any untold stories will die with me. It’s not likely that my books will be like Tom Clancy’s or Frank Herbert’s, where other people will continue the characters and storylines. No, I have to be more diligent about getting the stories down, despite the cat lying in front of the monitor and the dinner being cooked by my partner in the kitchen. Yes, I know all too well that he will have to go on without me, or I without him, one day, though the cat might outlive us both. But until then, I will write.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.