Why do you write?

This topic was begun some time ago with this thread: [link=http://boards.theforce.net/fan_fiction_resource/b10304/19690126/p1]Why We Read/Write[/link]. But it dealt mostly with why we write and read fanfiction. I'm looking for something a little more broad.

This question partially came out of a discussion held in a class I'm taking called Creating the Graphic Novel. Eventually in this class, we will all have come up with a marketable Graphic Novel. The teacher, a man who has more than one publishing credit under his belt said, "I'm a professional writer. I write for money." It caused me to think, because while I always have thoughts in mind about sending this text out, or sending that text out, and am getting rejection letters back, I really hadn't considered aiming towards writing specifically for money.

But in this venue, you can't write for money. Some professional writers don't write for money either. They write for reprints. There has to be something greater. So I pose the following question to you in terms of writing in general and not merely in terms of fanfiction.

Why do you write? Do you do it to entertain others? Do you do it for yourself? Do you do it to gather awards? Do you do it to make things in books come out the way you want them to? Or do you do it because you feel the drive as the Comanches once did to simply "sit down and tell stories?"

No one will judge you, because any option is perfectly acceptable. So think about it. Be honest. Let's hear it.

~Carr

 

i guess i write as a release; either i'll do a private fanfic where i get rescued from my problem or i'll write how i want it to end....

or sometimes i get a really cute plot bunny and get this urge to play with it!!!

*pokes "Runaway Jedi"* <-- VERY cute plot bunny!!!

 

I'm definitely a release-writer, someone who will do it so I don't scream or break something sometimes or at other times because I can't express myself in any other way.

 

Great topic, Carr!

I write fanfiction because it's another creative outlet. *whispers* Also because it's a cheap form of therapy. If I'm having a bad day, what do I do? Well, I'll make my character's day just as bad. In all good fun, of course.

I'd love to try my hand writing some original stories. I'm afraid my time away at university didn't allow me the freedom of taking any creative writing courses. I deeply regret that. However, I started writing fanfiction simply because I was already given certain tools. Like the characters, the setting, goods and evils. I feel if I keep plugging along, finding my "voice", gaining confidence in my material/storytelling...I then could be brave enough to someday tackle the many original ideas I have zooming around my head.

 

It's like Stephen King says: "If I feel rejected, I just kill a little old lady."

 

Why do I write? Now that's an interesting question.

When I was younger, I used to write because I was never really good at anything else, and I wanted something to show off to other people. Sort of a "Hey, look at what I can do! You can't even come close to this" type of thing. Not that it worked anyway and besides, most people in my grade had the writting ability of a...well...most of them didn't have it.

As I got older and wiser, I wrote because it was fun. It was fun to play in a world where I could control things and nothing could be done without me. Don't look at me like that...you know you feel that way too.

Now though, I guess I write for the escape. You can just hide away some place and have a nice break from the real world. But I guess I also still write for the second reason too.

 

I write for a lot of reasons. I started writing creative stories in school and I liked it. So I wrote for fun, to keep myself entertained and happy, and to relieve stress. So writing is an entertainment and an escape.

But I've thought more about writing recently, and for me, to go through all that crazy publishing nonsense, I need a goal. My goal is to write something that - when a reader picks up a book and reads it - he/she will get something from the book. I want to change people's lives with writing...you know? Specifically I'd like to write something that reinforces religion, geared at teens. That would mean a lot to me, and the thought of changing someone's life - just as so many books have changed my life - encourages me a lot more than making money. But at this point it's just a dream, I suppose.

As Frank Herbert said, "There's an unwritten compact between you and the reader. If someone enters a bookstore and sets down hard earned money (energy) for your book, you owe that person some entertainment and as much more as you can give."

LOL! I do that sometimes too!

Brilliant topic Carr. Good luck!

 

I write for others. Especially here. I think the reason I got into fan fiction was BECAUSE of other people liking my style. If I didn't get such wonderful feedback from what few fans I have, I don't think I ever would have gone this far. It's not even a question of fans really. But I like to share my imagination with others. I do it because it makes them happy. It makes me happy to share my thoughts with others.

It's a tad bit strange I admit, but some of the people I have met here, through writing, are in my view, very good friends. I know I'll never meet them in person (Most likely) but still, they are kind and fun people. And I only know them by screen name. I know, it's strange. But now, I write for my friends here. And I read for my friends here.

 

I write because I like to write--both fanfic and my fic. I post once in a while when I need feedback. But I would write even if not allowed to make fanfic--because I started writing 'real' fic before I started writing fanfic.

 

I write simply because I enjoy it. I write fanfiction and especially in RPG's here at the RPF. It is a lot of fun, and I will not stop doing it anytime soon.

I hope to improve my writing abilities even more than I have in the past year and a half.

 

I'm exactly the same way! I've never known anyone else who had to imagine stories to fall asleep.

I write sometimes as an emotional discharge, sometimes as the result of a lot of thought and inspiration, and sometimes just because. I love words, and I love the feeling I get when I put them together in just the right way to evoke a certain emotion or image in a reader's mind.

 

I, too, write for myself. It's creative, especially when I work in a non-creative field. I like words, how they sound, how they spill over the page, how I can make myself (the readers, too?) feel the depths of despair, the heights of happiness and the silliness of pure fun.

It's similar to what actors say: I can be a different me than I am in real life, also. I can be Darth Vader killing an underlying without regret or thought, I can be an officious bureaucrat who delights in oodles of paperwork (hmmm, plot bunny there - DV needs to complete paperwork to do nasty stuff?) or I can be a loving wife who was betrayed.

Of course I love it if other people like my stories, but I'd write even if I never posted a word.

 

In order to fall asleep I have to tell myself a story (my mom calls them night-night stories ) I can't just think of nothing...my brain goes way to fast and I start thinking of complicated things and then I will never fall asleep. So to keep this from happening I make up stories. Sometimes they are original ideas and sometimes they are additions, changes etc. to things I have read (this is why I started reading fanfiction, for night-night story ideas)
One day I decided I really liked some of the things my brain was coming up with and just decided to write them down. Now when I am trying to fall asleep I work on the plots for my fics.

Someone like me! Some nights my brain feels like it's racing and to calm my thoughts, I focus on making up a story. I used to make up Star Trek episodes but now I work on my fan fic plots. It also helps that as I'm getting in bed I discuss my story themes with my mom and she usually gives me a lot of helpful insight to mull over.

I started writing in 7th grade because my best friend switched schools and I was lonely while I waited for my mom to pick me up. One day I pulled out a piece of paper, sat down on the ground and started to write a fairy tale. And I kept writing...and writing. Pretty soon, I didn't write because I was lonely, but because it was fun. I still think writing's fun but I'm so busy, it takes a lot of self-discipline to sit down and do it. My mind's always rushing ahead to new plot twists I can try out. Like many of you, I use writing as an escape and a release of pent up emotion (usually frustration). I just set two characters in a room and let them argue.

But there's an every greater reason why I write. I get these images in my head - one shots, a scene from a story that I haven't even considered a plot for, but the image won't leave me alone. It burns itself into my mind until I have to let others in on it. So I create a plot around the image and write the story. It's a strange feeling, and I can't really describe it. It's like I'm compelled...

So that's why I write. And why I plan to keep on writing.

 

Wow, what a great topic. I think writing for me started with a huge imagination when I was a kid. I would make up all these silly little galmes and play them with my sisters all the time. As I got older, I would have these stories in my head and never do anything about them. Finally I began writing fanfiction.

Writing for me has been such a wonderful learning experience. I love just wrapping myself up in my stories, and I enjoy the asthetic value of it. It's a good release for me, and I enjoy it tremendously.

 

I write for 1 reason and one reason only:

Because I can't make my stories in to a film. I'm only 14, can't film movies the way I want them done, so I gotta write them down. My mind is always full of ideas. Plus for things like SW or FireFly which no one can make more movies (or TV shows) out of, I have to write it.

 

And here I was thinking I was the only one who writes herself to sleep. (I have this quote over my desk: "Typists pound keyboards. Writers stare out windows." I write in the darndest places, and not always on paper.)

I was watching A&E's Biography of George Lucas, in which he said, "I make movies because I have to. I couldn't live without making movies. I do it because I have to. That's my life. I'm defined that way."

My point (and I do have one) is this: I write because that is who I am. It's how I perceive the world. Everything I see is descriptive detail; everything I hear is potential dialogue. Hopefully, I can teach some of the fundamentals to my students. I'm shocked that your teacher said he writes for the money. That's almost an oxymoron. At one point, he had to write for the sheer joy of creating a world of his own.

 

Wow...I almost have the exact opposite problem. If I think of plot bunnies before I go to sleep I won't be able to fall asleep because I'll be thinking of all the twists and things that go with it.

But I do have little head stories that are part original, part fan-fic. Glad to know I'm not the only one who has voices in her head.

 

In order to fall asleep I have to tell myself a story (my mom calls them night-night stories ) I can't just think of nothing...my brain goes way to fast and I start thinking of complicated things and then I will never fall asleep. So to keep this from happening I make up stories. Sometimes they are original ideas and sometimes they are additions, changes etc. to things I have read -Mav

Along with Nienna and Artanis, I too have this habit. Never gave it a name, it was just always something I did to rev my brain down to normal sleeping speed. Never thought anyone else had that issue, actually. Maybe we should start a club!


I write fanfic because I find it fun. I don't think my brain differenciates between the fun I have playing Sonic the Hedgehog on my Gamecube and the fun I have writing stories about my amoral traveling salesman as he gets chased about the GFFA. So I do both with equal frequency.

But I write regular fics because I want to learn. Because I've begun to read stories not just for their entertainment value, but for the other more conceptual things they give. Structure and form and so on. It's staggering all the possible ways to frame dialogue. Let alone descriptive elements, action, suspense, and all the other more intangible pieces. I want to play with some of that. No, I want to play with all of that.

When I first started to learn the 3D software necessary for computer animation, I wanted to try everything. Even stuff I wasn't going to be able to understand for at least a few months. It was there and it looked cool and I wanted to jump in. That's how I act when I'm presented with something that gets me excited. So, of course, I'm the same about writing.
Although, I'd rate writing slightly higher than 3D animation. Because paper doesn't crash.

 

"Typists pound keyboards. Writers stare out windows."

That reminds me of me so much, it's almost not funny.

I love the idea of night-night stories. I think I started way back in grade school. We'd have a computer lab session, and when I was done with my work I'd start writing little stories. Now I know they were self-insertion fanfics, but at the time I really wanted to hang out with MacGyver and diffuse bombs with milk.

Once, I told a story to my cousin and freaked her out so much she started crying. Success!

Now, I suppose I write because it's fun, because I look at people and wonder what they're thinking, so I make up little stories to go with it. Sometimes I get ideas from TV commercials (I swear, there was something going on between two of those Dell interns...).

That's for creative writing. I studied journalism because I like writing, and I want to effect change. Seemed logical to combine the two. Though I have to say, writing a hard news inverted pyramid story is a hell of a lot easier than writing a story.

 

It's cheaper than therapy!

 

You mean I wasn't the only one who thought that?!

 

I'm not much of a fanfic writer, but I do write original stories and essays for practice. I do it to educate myself in grammar, spelling, writing style, and mechanics. Essentially, I write to improve my writing.

 

Why do I write fanfic?

First you need to know a little of my history: I have never really liked writing. In fact english was on of the least favorite classes. Now one day, in a search to find something or another relating to Luke and Mara, I came across a fanfiction web site. I started reading and fell in love with fanfiction. After lurking around for a year or so I decided that I needed to give back to the people by writing my own fiction. Now, I have always had plotbunnies floting in my head, that was never the problem. The problem was writing them down. I decided to tough it out and write a fanfic last december. My first fanfic never made it past chapter 1, but the second one I wrote took off. And the reviews added fire to the engine, so to speek.

So to sum it up, I write

1. To give back to the Authors of all the fanfic. ive ever read, (now weather they read it or not is another story)
2. to release some of my plot bunnies
3. for the reviews!

Hope i didn't bore anybody

jacky[face_alien_1]