It pulls chicks.

 

I think I'm writing for the wrong fandom.

 

Because it gives me pleasure. I enjoy concocting fictional scenarios and playing them out in stories and I also enjoy writing essays about serious topics to better refine my own views about them. I also enjoy collaborating with other writers and seeking their views and opinions.

 

I started to write purely for myself, mostly because I couldn't find the right story and thought that I could create it.
I would love to write for an audience - publish what I have written - but I don't think my English allows me to produce real quality stuff and I don't want to publish crap.

 

I don't really know why I write. I go in spurts, most of the time. Sometimes, I'll get an idea in my head, and it won't get out. I literally have to write it. Other times, I'll have an idea, but as soon as I start I get bored of it. So, I mostly write for myself.

 

I write because I enjoy it. Fanfiction is quite fun as I find it a good stretch, as it were, before I get into my own writing. I spend an hour or two sending Harry down the rabbit hole before sending my original characters through an entirely different one.
Also, occasionally I like to examine motives or play with ideas Rowling didn't extend.

But mostly because of plot bunnies. They breed if you don't let them out.

 

I write because it's therapeutic. I guess I just let off stress. I love living with the characters and not vicariously, either. I like getting to know the characters.

I also like going within, which is what it feels like when I write. I usually listen to music when I write. I like quiet music without lyrics. Right now I listen to the soundtracks of Atonement and Schindler's List a lot. Also Enigma songs.

 

I write to... I don't know. I suppose I write because it's the one thing that's mine, the one thing no one in my family tries to steal, copy, or humiliate... I suppose that in that sense, I'm writing for myself.

Now, I've started to write to better my writing. I live for the mockery, people telling me where my flaws are to allow me to improve. Writing has become my life, and now I can't live without it. It's the only thing that keeps me going, is the knowledge that I can be whoever I want to be, do whatever I want to do, and no one can stop me. When I write, I'm finally free...

 

I write because I want to tell a story. I write for both myself and my audience as I love my characters and love to see how they get out of the situations I put them in (and if they don’t get out at all), but I also love to imagine my audience’s reaction and what they think of my stories.

Though, I don’t actually like writing stories. When ever the hour that I’ve put aside for writing comes, I’m always trying to procrastinate. It’s only I’m actually writing, that I enjoy writing. If that makes any sense.

 

I write because I've got a lot of stories running around in the noggin. Each level has been an education for me. I started with fanfic to practice and figure out what kind of style suits me and find out what I need to work on. I write what I would want to read. I like suggestions from the audience and if it doesn't take me too far off track, I'll include it as long as it amuses me.

I'm a glutton for feedback. That's no secret. I answer every single review I get - good or bad, mainly out of the hope that when I do have something published, people will remember that I took time out to answer their reviews and it will make them more likely to buy my original stuff.

After some success, I tried to go to the next level and I got a rude awakening on how much harder I need to work on my mechanics. My stories are good. I'm still tweaking with the "delivery system." Right now, I consider myself a semi-pro. Until I have an actual publishing deal, I'm still another wannabe. I write, I critique, and I write some more.

So, I keep plugging away. I know I'm getting better. I cringe when I read the early chapters of To Fight the Coming Darkness. I'll always be proud of it because it was my "first," but it's really hard to get me to look at the first ten chapters of that story.

 

So you write because you're an attention whore.

I don't write because I'm lazy and lack confidence in my ieds.

 

Well, if you think about it, aren't we all writing because we're attention whores?

After all, the whole purpose of communication (whether it be oral or written) is to express one's thoughts to an audience. I'm typing this post right now under the assumption that someone will read it, and (even better) think about it.

Aside from personal journals, any post on a forum, fanfiction published, or original work written is meant to draw attention to one's own thoughts and creations.

 

Over-analysing a one-liner, go!

 

Oh, what an interesting response so full of implications and fine nuances. Alone, it cannot stand- there is no substance in that one line. No original expression of ideas. No novel perspective.

Its power lies in its context. And yet, when one examines it more closely, it becomes evident that this one-liner does indeed have a purpose: expression of emotion. In this particular case, the irate individual is expressing annoyance through the medium of irony and slight condescension.


*bursts out laughing*

This is really helping with my bull-shitting skills for my writing class. Seriously though, sorry if I'm being a bit verbose today. The Maryland game put me in a happy mood. ^_^


On a related note (to this thread): thanks to everyone who responded. It was really insightful and I feel like I have a much better feel now for the motivation of writers.

 

You had me at 'oral.'


In other thoughts:

 

Back to the topic... well, I write for a few reasons. First of all, I love telling stories, and creating a distinct and unique world unlike any other is a personal pleasure. I really like creating solid, complex, human characters and putting them into conflicts. I'm still workiing on the novel I'm trying to get published (got rejected twice, but I'm not giving up yet - I'm back at the editing board now), and trying to inject the humanity and true conflict into the story is what makes writing such a joy.

Frankly, I've tried writing for other people, and it's... well, it's not as satisfying, personally. Sure, I could write some fangirl tripe that could garner more hits than a crack dealer in a whorehouse, but what's the point? You feel dirty and unsatisfied after that sort of thing.

You really have to write for yourself - reviews just become... well, gravy. A bonus. Sure, they're great if you get them, and feedback is always appreciated, but you can't write for them.

Writing's also a great way to procrastinate from doing Calculus, Physics, or working on a Chemistry Lab.

 

As I have, at various points, written -- and posted -- fanfiction on this site (spawning a smiley ), I suppose that I ought to answer the question.

I rarely write fanfiction. To me it is a diversion, a place to either test out stylistic ideas, or to write things so vulgar that -- had I written them for other purposes -- I would likely be locked away in an asylum somewhere. Everyone who has read my literary contributions to Sick and Perverse knows what I mean. At the same time, I see writing as a vehicle for commentary on the communities of which I find myself an inhabitant. The Office, for instance, was a comment on the stupidity of a number of Fanfiction cliches, as well as on just how shitty most of the smut in the FF-realm at the time was (and still is). Along with a few other things.

The same is true of my non-Fanfiction writings. Although they are always slightly tamer, and are usually run through a spell-checker.

The other reason why I write is for my own enjoyment. I rarely feel compelled to write, and when I heed the compulsion as often as I ignore it. This is, perhaps, why I am not an obsessive perfectionist with my work. I do not particularly care whether or not it meets the standards of a reader who I may never encounter: I care whether or not it meets my own. If it does not, then it is corrected. If it does and my reader does not appreciate it, they can go fuck themselves.

The above is why I do not think I have ever posted any of my original fiction here, although I will probably post something up in the future when I want suggestions because when I look inward, I have no answers for the questions I need answered.

 

I'm personally suprised no one called me on my spelling mistake. I meant to say ideas, not ieds, but frankly, neither one are very good.

 

Your post was to stupid to bother replying too. "Lets insult Jbern cuz all the cool kids do!"

This one wasn't much better, but I figured I may as well, since you went to such effort to point out your spelling mistake, with a new post, instead of just correcting the older post, which you still haven't done.