Who do you write for?

[ShelbyDawn57]

This Instagram post featuring Rick Ruben has an interesting take that we should write for ourselves.

Do you agree with him or not.

EDIT: It occurs to me, soe may not know who this guy is...

Producer Rick Rubin was born March 10, 1963, in New York. With a career of more than 40 years and counting, Rubin is considered one of the most important producers in music.
In the late 1980s, Rubin helped popularize hip-hop music by producing albums by such artists as LL Cool J, Run DMC, Public Enemy and Beastie Boys. Since that time, Rubin co-founded Def Jam Records with Russell Simmons, has been a co-president at Columbia Records, and he created the American Recordings label. With his production chops and far-reaching influence, Rubin either produced or executive-produced albums by a wide range of artists, including Sir Mix-A-Lot, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash, Jay-Z, Brandi Carlile, Tom Petty, Weezer, Lana Del Rey, the Avett Brothers, Adele, the Chicks (fka the Dixie Chicks), Kanye West, Lady Gaga, the Strokes and many others.

 

[SimonDoom]

I agree with this, in a sense. I write for myself as a reader. I've loved reading since I was a little kid, decades ago, and over a lifetime of reading I've developed a lot of ideas about what I like and what good writing is. That's the standard I try to meet with my stories.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

If we want to write to the best of our ability, then yes. Writing for ourselves gives us the best motivation and inspiration to write good stories. Writing for commercial reasons is also very much valid though. It might not produce equally good stories but not every story has to be a work of art or the product of your best effort and inspiration. Writing great stories from the artistic point of view, but being commercially unsuccessful can't make one too happy either. Both kinds of stories have their rightful place.

 

[samhasstories]

Wholeheartedly agree. I write for me. I would love it if people wanted to read my work, and would love it even more if they like it. But that's not ultimately what I'm writing for.

The calculation might change if someone offered me bags of money to write something specific for a specific audience. But that hasn't happened yet.

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

I more or less exclusively write for me, myself and I only. If I think something is sexy, it goes in the story. If I don't like it, I take it out.

Actually posting the stories here is more of a mechanism to force myself to actually finish them than anything else. Positive feedback is nice to hear, of course, but writing is only ever for me.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I write for my client.

These can include my publisher, a production company, a magazine or other periodical. Where stories I publish here are concerned, the client is me and I attempt to follow the same process to deliver what they client is expecting.

 

[samhasstories]

Actually posting the stories here is more of a mechanism to force myself to actually finish them than anything else.

Same, but also for me it almost solidifies the story/fantasy so it's something that 'happened,' not something that can still be altered and edited away.

 

[KeithD]

I guess I write for myself, mostly to get a story out of my head and safely tucked away in a file. But I do target most of my stories in this Lit. account to actively gay men. It's OK if others read and enjoy them, though.

 

[alohadave]

I write stories that I want to write, but I also keep in mind the expectations of the category I'm writing in. If I want a good response, I'm going to give them what they are looking for.

For stories that I write for myself, I'll satisfy myself first and let the chips fall where they may IRT response from readers.

 

[Lumiere_Amie]

I write for myself, always have, always will. If others enjoy my stories that's nice, if they don't, I don't care.

 

[Scarla]

I suppose I write for myself. I don't think I could write something that doesn't interest me personally. It has to make me at least a little bit hot, otherwise I don't see the point. I write to challenge myself, to see myself improve, and to see if my f'ed up ideas can actually make a decent story.

The fact that others seem to enjoy my writing is a very, very nice bonus!

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I write the stories that are in me that beg to get out, and I write them for anyone (no matter how few) who might like to read them.

 

[MrPixel]

I was going to make some sort of rude but funny comment about "conceit", but I'll just join the choir here: I write for me. If others like what I write, that's wonderful, and if they indicate approval in scoring or comments, that's fantastic, but I simply enjoy my own stories.

So sue me.

 

[StillStunned]

Like most of us apparently, I write for me. But I also write for my wife. Not all my stories, not the "artsy" ones, but more than half.

 

[32aa]

Like a lot of the others here... I write for myself. I enjoy coming up with an idea for the basis of a story and then run with it. Sometimes, I hit a wall, put it away, until something comes to me. A lot of the time those inspirations come to me at night after a couple glasses of wine. I just hope that i can remember those the next day.

I enjoy developing characters that i can relate to and bring out their emotions as they progress through where ever the plot takes them. I have a habit of getting into the hearts and souls of my characters, to feel their joy, their sorrow, and at times loss.

Sharing my works on this forum has brought a lot of personal satisfaction, or course receiving positive feedback always helps.

 

[Bazzle]

This Instagram post featuring Rick Ruben has an interesting take that we should write for ourselves.

Do you agree with him or not.

I very much write for myself.

I am occasionally surprised when others like it too.

I've got so many half finished stories where it doesnt work for me. I can't keep going.

 

[CockSparrow]

Yes, I write primarily for myself. If someone else enjoys what I have written, that's a bonus. But it's not my reason for writing.

 

[SamBomb]

I write what I wish others were writing. So, for me, if I was someone else.

 

[SyleusSnow]

I write for the readers.

There are selfish motivations, like fame, money and groupies, and maybe even to push a few messages, but primarily I write to be read - to entertain, inform and hopefully delight readers.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I don't mean for this to sound snarky, but if you only write for yourself, why do you publish?

 

[StillStunned]

I don't mean for this to sound snarky, but if you only write for yourself, why do you publish?

We write for ourselves. We publish for others.

 

[rthnck]

I write for myself, always have, always will. If others enjoy my stories that's nice, if they don't, I don't care.

Agree. I very much enjoy reader comments both positive and negative. That's probably the reason I publish my imaginings, so that I can get feedback but the stories are what I want to write and only when the story is done do I start to think about what category it should be in. Myself. Always for myself.

 

[CockSparrow]

I don't mean for this to sound snarky, but if you only write for yourself, why do you publish?

Possibly because people who write primarily for themselves don't really write only for themselves, Melissa. And sharing is caring.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I write because I can't not write, and because my muses are good to me.

 

[NotWise]

I don't mean for this to sound snarky, but if you only write for yourself, why do you publish?

I publish for myself too, but publishing and writing are different things. I enjoyed writing the three stories I published in 2023, but publishing them brought me no joy. As a result, I haven't published anything since last June.