How many of you write for yourselves, not the reader?

[paddyboi]

My poetry all comes from my experiences. Creating poetry for me is contemplative. I realize myself in other ways. So, though I’d never thought of the question, I do write for me. And now, only recently, have begun publishing some here. Thanks for asking.

 

[RawSilhouette]

But my primary focus is on the words, sentences and paragraphs. On the imagery and feelings that they evoke. On telling my story in a way that resonates.

This is me too because nearly all of my stories are my private fantasies. The more emotive it is, the more detail and imagery I can insert, the more realistic that hidden fantasy becomes for me.

Writing for me is fun, a therapeutic release from the stress of the day. A quiet outlet for the creative segment of my brain.
You know, "It's a dark stormy night." So to sit in front of the fire, soft music drifting around the house. My fingers tapping feverishly. It is a wonderfully enriching feeling.
You have created something from nothing. A thought, becomes a 50,000 word story... It might be crap, but it's yours... You designed and built it yourself..

This is me as well. I live in a professional writing space that requires nonfiction day in and day out to the point where my mind craves a more creative release. What you said here is quite lovely, the craft and art that is the written word - turning one thought into fifty thousand words that has your unique voice and mark - that’s truly inspiring and very poetic.

I also write for myself, like most of you do. This site and these stories are a safe space for my fantasies. Each one of my stories has a little piece of me in them. They are all a part of me. From the housewife desperate to find release to the past co-Ed me unable to find satisfaction with all the “bros” I’ve met, not to mention fantasizing over my favorite musician since I was a teenager. I can’t share these fantasies and maintain that professional demeanor in my reality, but there is such a drive to get them out of me, to create them in a way that is safe.

For this reason many of my stories don’t really fit the typical structure for erotica. They are more detail oriented, focused on setting and plot, on crafting the character in just the most perfect way so that it matches my fantasy. That’s why I chose the words I do, to turn fantasy into reality even if it’s just on the page. I’ve recently gotten feedback in comments about how slow my slow-burn stories are, and that I’m focusing too much on dialogue, but it doesn’t faze me because that’s what I need to make the fantasy real for me. I can’t get into quick and dirty, I can appreciate it, but can’t get into it because my inner eye requires that detail and dialogue to craft the whole picture.

This is a great thread and I love how insightful all of you are. Thank you for sharing!

 

[EmilyMiller]

But at this stage I just don’t have the literary talent. I don’t know how to breathe written life into all my terabytes of images and videos and memories. And with a baby on the way, I don’t see that changing this year or next.

I get the baby angle - congratulations , but “I don’t have the literary talent” doesn’t have to be true. I’m not like this amazing writer, but I’ve kinda amazed myself what I can do. It’s been a journey, and I still have so much room for improvement. But even I will admit that I’ve come a long way.

I guess I must have just a little talent, but it was sure buried deep. I always wanted to write, but was terrified at the thought of trying to immitate my literary heroes. It was only via erotica that I found I could even write at all.

Like you I had experiences to draw on, and I just tried to turn some of them, or exaggerated versions of them, into stories. Doing that gave me confidence to take off the training wheels and begin to be more creative. And I was more surprised than anyone that I wasn’t so very bad at writing.

Pick your most extreme, or most emotional, or most memorable experience and try to write it. Realize that your first attempt will be fall short of your dreams. Then, to borrow from Beckett:

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

 

[EmmAgain]

I get the baby angle - congratulations , but “I don’t have the literary talent” doesn’t have to be true. I’m not like this amazing writer, but I’ve kinda amazed myself what I can do. It’s been a journey, and I still have so much room for improvement. But even I will admit that I’ve come a long way.

I guess I must have just a little talent, but it was sure buried deep. I always wanted to write, but was terrified at the thought of trying to immitate my literary heroes. It was only via erotica that I found I could even write at all.

Like you I had experiences to draw on, and I just tried to turn some of them, or exaggerated versions of them, into stories. Doing that gave me confidence to take off the training wheels and begin to be more creative. And I was more surprised than anyone that I wasn’t so very bad at writing.

Pick your most extreme, or most emotional, or most memorable experience and try to write it. Realize that your first attempt will be fall short of your dreams. Then, to borrow from Beckett:

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

Thank you for the wonderful pep-talk! Sometimes it’s hard to look around at some of the talent here, and in print, without thinking “Oh man - I’m completely out of my league.”

Baby steps, I guess. I’ve shared some personal anecdotes here that I’m going to flesh out and expand on into chapter-length pieces. It’s so easy to resort to media (photos and videos) as a crutch, so an occasional journey out of my comfort zone is surely what’s needed.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Sometimes it’s hard to look around at some of the talent here, and in print, without thinking “Oh man - I’m completely out of my league.”

I get that totally. There are writers here who are much better than me. @Voboy @onehitwanda @MelissaBaby and others. But they are all pretty friendly and they’ve all helped me to improve. As have countless other people. @NoTalentHack and @Djmac1031 both kinda figured out that I wasn’t just this goofy, flirty girl at about the same time. Lots of others who have helped me along the way. @TarnishedPenny and @Devinter and the much missed @Victoria14xs and Pixiehoff. And my sapphic nemesis @EStaccato and @djrip who has drawn lovely images for me and @Mastered_again Latterly @Eosphorus and @Actingup and @PennyThompson And so on and so on. With others I apologize for omitting .

But all of them wrote their first story some time. And you can too.

 

[PapaRomantic]

I write for both my readers and for me, because my purpose is to produce work that my readers enjoy, and when I hear of their enjoyment, that's how I get my enjoyment. I know that sounds simple to many, but it's really my purpose, both here as a writer, and in life in general. My desire to help others find enjoyment only grows as my age grows.

 

[DeMont]

It's clear that a vast majority of AH writers do, to some extent, write for the reader. Lots of interesting threads are focussed on how to best get and keep their attention.

But some of us don't think about the reader. We write to please ourselves. And we publish to possibly bump into people who share our sensibilities, for the inexplicable reason that humans like to find like-minded people.

Of course, this, like everything, is on a continuum. I'm grateful when someone points out that a passage of mine is confusing, or could be made less klunky by doing such and such. But I hope you get my point.

@onehitwanda's essay, Paint With a Soft Brush, got me thinking about this. As I read it, I kept thinking about the fact that I don't follow her advice. It's clearly good advice, but my own approach is different. Here are some examples. Are any of you writers like me? Does this describe being a "pantser?" I never completely understood that term. Do pantsers spend time choosing their words? I do. In that I agree totally with Wanda's essay.

1. Choose words that establish the scene I'm only interested in establishing the scene to the extent that i'm describing what the MC is paying attention to. If the MC is the sort that is fascinated by interior decor, we'll find out about the wallpaper and the furniture. Or we might find out nothing.

2. Choose words based on your desired end goal No disagreement here. My desired goal is to portray the MC's physical experience as vividly as possible. And, in most of my stories, the single concomitant emotional/psychological experience of surrender. Choosing the words is the main thing I'm doing in writing down the story.

3. Choose words that demonstrate how your character feels in this moment "Feels" is a difficult concept. I'm fixed on physical experience and concomitant surrender. I don't distract by internal monologue. Lots of critics wish I would tell them what the MC is thinking. The MC can't be distracted by thinking. Again, a continuum. I do tell the reader about his contempt for his tormenter, for example.

4. Choose the words that turn the rough sketch into a finished painting Couldn't agree more. That's what I'm all about, and why a number of my stories have five to nine editions. Every year or so I re-read and fine tune.

What about the rest of you? Do any of you write like I do?

@AG31,
As usual my friend you have come up with a query that makes one sit back and think.

As I mulled this one over I was led to consider the writings of Steven King and Ernest Hemingway... yes, what strange bedfellows doth literature make. I believe that King writes for his audience whilst Hemingway wrote for himself. In my mind, when I write, I am writing the tale I want to write, it is only after I finish the first draft that I consider my audience and what it is about the story that is going to have them want to read it.

Your points;
1) Choose words that establish the scene are , to me, most important to the reader since they will establish the 'backdrop' of the work.
2) Choosing words based on my desired goal is very often a delicate process in deciding do you want to lead the reader gently to a realisation or club them between the eyes with raw emotions.
3) Choose words to demonstrate how your character feels in the moment, to my way of thinking, are the crux of how believable and effective the story will be as a whole.
4) Choose words that turn the rough sketch into the finished painting. As I read that I can't help but think of the master impressionist artists, Van Gogh, Dali etc. As opposed to earlier 'portrait' and 'landscape' artists. Usually, as I work through the first draft, from very early on I choose my "brush strokes". Fine, intricate and interwoven as opposed to wild, daring and aggressive.

It is my strongest belief that one should, firstly, write for themselves and then dress it for public consumption.
Deepest respects,
D.

 

[Rob_Royale]

My very first stories I wrote for myself and they were very well received. From that I gathered that people like the same things I do and I should just keep writing what I like.
It's worked out pretty fucking good so far.

 

[EmmAgain]

I get that totally. There are writers here who are much better than me. @Voboy @onehitwanda @MelissaBaby and others. But they are all pretty friendly and they’ve all helped me to improve. As have countless other people. @NoTalentHack and @Djmac1031 both kinda figured out that I wasn’t just this goofy, flirty girl at about the same time. Lots of others who have helped me along the way. @TarnishedPenny and @Devinter and the much missed @Victoria14xs and Pixiehoff. And my sapphic nemesis @EStaccato and @djrip who has drawn lovely images for me and @Mastered_again Latterly @Eosphorus and @Actingup and @PennyThompson And so on and so on. With others I apologize for omitting .

But all of them wrote their first story some time. And you can too.

You’re absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much!

 

[OddLove]

If I made something I didn't like, but everyone else on earth loved it, I still wouldn't like it.

If I made something I did like, but everybody on earth hates it, I would still like it.

Me liking my story is a delicious cupcake.

Others liking my story is the cherry on top.

If I could only pick one, I want the cupcake.

 

[EdgySubMic]

I mostly write for my targeted set of readers. In some cases, that’s a quite restricted group and sometimes even rather a set of individuals – or even a single one. I don't mind if others "listen in" on such targeted writings, but since they're not my primary audience, I'm not going to adapt my way of writing to suit them. When I specifically am writing for a wider group, I do pay more attention, but it tends to slow me down a lot because I’ll go through many (many) more rounds of reworking and self-editing that can take many months and can cause me to lose interest before I'm really happy and done.

However, I write because of myself. I want to document things that happened; to log and elaborate on (outlines of) fantasies that triggered me; to get things out of my head and make space for new ideas; ...

 

[StillStunned]

But at this stage I just don’t have the literary talent. I don’t know how to breathe written life into all my terabytes of images and videos and memories.

Talent is perhaps the least part of writing ability. I doubt many of us were very accomplished or polished when we began. Like with many skills, practice is much, much more important. According to a few books on writing, the first million words you write, or even the first two million, are crap.

I wouldn't go that far, but you have to start by writing. If you don't write, you can't improve. So just write, write, write. If you try to get better, you will. Write something that you'd want to read, in a style that you'd enjoy reading. Start small, with a few thousand words. By the time you've got it to where you're impressed with yourself, even that will feel like the Complete Works of Charles Dickens.

Just remember: if the will is there, you'll get better with every word you write.

 

[Voboy]

It’s so easy to resort to media (photos and videos) as a crutch, so an occasional journey out of my comfort zone is surely what’s needed.

Photos and videos are EVERYWHERE now, and so very easy to grab. Many of us are old enough that our only exposure to anything pornographic came from stealing our dad's Playboys, or trying to make out a tit or two after midnight among the interference on the Cinemax screen our parents wouldn't pay for.

I'm not sure I'd say that I started writing "because" it was so hard to find visual material Way Back When, but even now I prefer the written word. Your sentences and paragraphs can give your reader a chance to use their imagination in a way that visual porn cannot do as easily, and so I guess that, too, is the reader I'm writing for: someone who's willing to be immersed in my story, especially if they're typing one-handed. In that context, word choice is almost everything.

But I've found through my own reading that the vocab in the climax is less important than a good, sexy setup. That's more about story construction than word choice, though.

 

[AchtungNight]

I originally write stories for myself because I think they are good. But I publish them for other readers- if they were mine alone, they might just as well stay in my brain.

 

[SavannaT]

I do.. they’re my fantasies, im just glad if anyone else finds some enjoyment in them

 

[spawnofdavey]

I write about what turn me on, fantasies I've had as well as situations that 'might have been '.

 

[EmmAgain]

Photos and videos are EVERYWHERE now, and so very easy to grab. Many of us are old enough that our only exposure to anything pornographic came from stealing our dad's Playboys, or trying to make out a tit or two after midnight among the interference on the Cinemax screen our parents wouldn't pay for.

I'm not sure I'd say that I started writing "because" it was so hard to find visual material Way Back When, but even now I prefer the written word. Your sentences and paragraphs can give your reader a chance to use their imagination in a way that visual porn cannot do as easily, and so I guess that, too, is the reader I'm writing for: someone who's willing to be immersed in my story, especially if they're typing one-handed. In that context, word choice is almost everything.

But I've found through my own reading that the vocab in the climax is less important than a good, sexy setup. That's more about story construction than word choice, though.

Thank you. That’s very inspiring, thoughtful advice. I’m certainly familiar with Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours thesis, and I won’t be arrogant enough to think it doesn’t apply to my writing, too! I’ll get there eventually - and the advice and support I’ve received here is a breeze to my back.

 

[ElvieG]

I write because I enjoy the process of choosing the words and assembling them into a story. In the two years that I've had this ID, I've written nine or ten stories. My original intention was to post all of my stuff on Lit, but after the first three, I decided that I was just going to write for myself.

 

[TinaCole]

"you can certainly tell the difference between the two, A writer who writes for himself here, is more graphic, get right into the action without setting up the plot or the scene, while those who write for others make sure the reader feels the more intimate emotions leading up to the action. sort of like the difference between painting a picture and taking a photo.

 

[StillStunned]

"you can certainly tell the difference between the two, A writer who writes for himself here, is more graphic, get right into the action without setting up the plot or the scene, while those who write for others make sure the reader feels the more intimate emotions leading up to the action. sort of like the difference between painting a picture and taking a photo.

That really depends on why you write. If all you want to do is *tell* a story, maybe that's true. If you want to *craft* a story, it's probably very different.

 

[iwatchus]

"you can certainly tell the difference between the two, A writer who writes for himself here, is more graphic, get right into the action without setting up the plot or the scene, while those who write for others make sure the reader feels the more intimate emotions leading up to the action. sort of like the difference between painting a picture and taking a photo.

I write mostly for myself to write about the emotions. Writing for others is often when I add in something explicit, because that's what keeps the horny mob happy

 

[MelissaBaby]

I think an appropriate follow up question would be: If you are writing for yourself, who are you publishing for?

 

[MillieDynamite]

When I'm not doing paid work, it's totally me, myself, and I first and the reader second.

And to @MelissaBaby, whoever (or is whomever?) reads it.

 

[EdgySubMic]

I think an appropriate follow up question would be: If you are writing for yourself, who are you publishing for?

I guess it depends.

To start with, I mentioned that I write for others but because of myself. That automatically translates into: I write for a small audience, many members of which I know by name. Strictly speaking, that means that I do not need to publish in the wider sense of the word. However, I do publish (*) beyond my target audience because if it can make some similarly minded soul happy for half an hour, why not.

[(*) Far from everything and certainly not anywhere, as some of my writings are quite dark.]

Having said that, I'm working on sort of a report of an event in which I was the central character last year. Again, I write this thing because of me: in order to process the memories and learnings. However, it will be published for everyone to read on the website of the organizer (or service provider, if you will), because it will help him promote what he does. Do I need to do that? No. But I want to, because I truly enjoyed the event a lot and I also enjoyed reading other people's reports.

 

[AG31]

Your points;

Thanks for your attention! But I just wanted to clarify that those were OneHitWanda's points.