Who do you write for?

[Bamagan]

I claim to write primarily for myself, which is technically true. But the reason I write is so that my friends exist, as much as they can.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I write for a combinations of myself, because I like creating stories, and for my audience, and the audience I target is mostly guys, because that's who I enjoy writing for. It's fun!

 

[MyBareTorso]

I write for myself, with the hope that some others might like my stuff too. When I'm not getting paid for my writing, my only responsibility is to myself. It's great when my stories get a good response, but I would never change my work to get one. Literotica is solely about my own entertainment...a complete wank, therefore, but with a few spectators...this is getting weird.

 

[Lumiere_Amie]

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

For me, there’s something deeply satisfying about creating something in my mind, putting it out there for people I’ll never meet, and having them find it necessary as indicated by scores, views, and comments.

 

[Rob_Royale]

The statement, "I write/build/paint for me" always makes me cringe a bit inside. It's so often used as a hurt feelings responce to criticism (usually requested). I've seen it many, many times ever since artistic persons first moved their hobby onto the internet. And I'm not referring to anything that's happened here, to be clear.

I write (along with other artistic pursuits), for everyone who might enjoy the work. Which includes myself. If I did not have a place to share them, I wouldn't bother.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

The term, "I write/build/paint for me" always makes me cringe a bit inside. It's so often used as a hurt feelings responce to criticism (usually requested). I've seen it many, many times ever since artistic persons first moved their hobby onto the internet. And I'm not referring to anything that's happened here, to be clear.

I write (along with other artistic pursuits), for everyone who might enjoy the work. Which includes myself. If I did not have a place to share them, I wouldn't bother.

Put it this way. Yes I am absolutely writing to be read - for better or for worse - but I'm certainly not going to write something that I don't like or that I'm not into or at the very least willing to explore. So in that sense I totally write for me first, but of course I do take into account how someone might read it. It's a zen balance thing to be sure, but I'm never going to pander to what I think someone might want - if that makes sense. It is a funny blurry area this zen thing, but when you understand it, you understand it.

I'm very much a 'slave to the story' writer in that I have ideas and I follow those ideas to shape a plot according to how I feel about those ideas and that tells me where to take it. If it feels right for the story then that's how it goes. How people might react to it doesn't factor. Although at the same time I am very conscious of clarity and pace and how much that I might be showing as compared to what I might be hinting to engage the reader to do the best that I can to give a smooth reading experience. If that all makes sense.

 

[lovecraft68]

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

I'll kind of piggyback on this thought with if people publish for themselves, then why the endless threads obsessing over stats and scores.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I'll kind of piggyback on this thought with if people publish for themselves, then why the endless threads obsessing over stats and scores.

Best question evar!

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Best question evar!

Because we're all vain as fuck!

 

[AchtungNight]

It heartens me somewhat to see so many people able to admit they write for the same reasons I do.

 

[MrHereWriting]

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

Do you agree with him or not.

Never heard of this homeless-looking guy, or if I have, he wasn't important enough to remember.

Everyone writes for the obvious reasons, even if we pretend those reasons are greater than they are: We like it and we hope to find others who like it, and we hope to profit off it in some way, otherwise we'd keep it to ourselves. (And I have written things that I don't share with anyone, and I won't, because those writings are just for me, just like a couple of other hobbies I have.)

If you can think of a reason for writing, that's a good enough reason for me.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Never heard of this homeless-looking guy, or if I have, he wasn't important enough to remember.

Everyone writes for the obvious reasons, even if we pretend those reasons are greater than they are: We like it and we hope to find others who like it, and we hope to profit off it in some way, otherwise we'd keep it to ourselves. (And I have written things that I don't share with anyone, and I won't, because those writings are just for me, just like a couple of other hobbies I have.)

If you can think of a reason for writing, that's a good enough reason for me.

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.

 

[MrHereWriting]

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.

The songs written by him are not among my favorite, but he's a hell of a producer, it seems.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Because we're all vain as fuck!

 

[Paul_Chance]

For me, here on Lit, it's both.

I write for myself in that I write the stories I want to tell, for a variety of reasons. I try and write the kind of stories that I would enjoy reading.

I also write for the audience. I like to write stories that I think other people will enjoy reading, which means attention to structure and grammar, so it doesn't get in the way of enjoyment. I enjoy the various metrics and the reader comments. They're a nice little buzz as payment for the time I put in.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Who do you write for?​

This is complicated. The TL-DNR answer is me. And actually the fully analyzed answer is the same.

I write for me. That doesn’t mean that I don’t care how my work is received. I do, clearly. It is a matter of great sadness to me how few people have the acutely refined sensibilities and razor-sharp intellect to appreciate my genius. But shit happens.

What I mean is I don’t ever consider the reader when writing. I cannot ever recall thinking to myself, “don’t write that, it might not go down well.” Or, “do write that, readers lap up that shit.”

I write what I want to write. I write what amuses me. What arouses me. What moves me. I don’t seem to have a reader-centric filter. Or maybe I just have no clue what the reader wants and so write what I want instead.

The only time I can recall wavering from this was in writing a semi-traditional Loving Wives tale; Jacobs's Progress. For this I intentionally adopted a straitjacket. And then proceeded to struggle my way out of it at every opportunity. It’s still my voice, my sensibility, my preoccupations.

In Caputpeses, I blend equine sex (sort of) with pregnant schoolgirl caning fetish (sort of) with musings on segregation and Roe vs Wade. Oh and lots of digestive tract traversing. This is the opposite of writing with an audience and their preferences in mind. It’s all over the place and undisciplined. And I love it.

I don’t have a secret plan to become a professional or semi-pro author. I’m not looking to supplement my income. I write for five main reasons:

1. I have always loved to read and I almost can’t believe that I have found a way to create stuff that some people read, let alone sometimes like
2. I love sex and love writing about it
3. There is a therapeutic angle, I work through my shit writing
4. I occasionally connect with someone who either gets my view of the world, or is able to ignore the bits of it they disagree with - but… I don’t write with this in mind
5. I have met some cool people through writing

But that’s it. Of course I would like to get better. But I don’t have a burning ambition to be a really good (or even just plain good) writer. It’s a hobby. It’s fun. That’s it.

Which is why I can’t bring myself to identify a demographic and write to its needs. I’d find that deeply boring. Even if I was getting paid, I’d still find it deeply boring.

So, I have fun by writing for me.

Emily

 

[MrPixel]

This is complicated. The TL-DNR answer is me. And actually the fully analyzed answer is the same.

Analytical yet heartfelt. That’s our Emily!

 

[TheRedChamber]

I think a simple question of whether someone writes for themselves or for 'the public' is kind of missing the point, or maybe looking at things the wrong way.

Terry Pratchett once wrote an article about his writing process that has always stuck with me. I don't have access to a paper copy and I haven't been able to find it online so I'm describing it from memory but it was basically this. He was talking about Unseen Academicals which was one of his last great books and deals with the topic of football (or, as you Yanks call it...ah fuck it, I'm not even going to bother).

Now, if you know anything about Pratchett you probably know his books take place in a fantasy world but often satirize modern concepts like the movie industry, or supermarkets, or the postal service. People often wrote to him with suggestions for his next book and one of the ones he saw quite a lot was football. He wasn't against the idea of writing about football, the modern game being ripe for satire, but he felt that as well as a topic, a story had to have a point. And for the longest time, he couldn't see what the point of a story about football was going to be.

Then one day the phrase 'Two supporters clubs, both alike in villiany' popped into his head and with it a very simple idea - Romeo and Juliet but with football clubs instead of noble houses. And quickly after that the idea that the Romeo and Juliet of football were probably Posh and Becks. Now, the final story became a lot more than just that, but in an instant he had the point for an interesting story and could apply himself to making the best story crafted around that flash of inspiration.

At this point was he writing for all the people who'd asked for a football story or was he writing for himself?

(Back to my own commentary rather than Pratchetts...)

Other people have compared writing a story or at least plotting a story to digging up dinosaur bones - you might start with a skull or a leg bone and you have to dust away the dirt surrounding it very carefully to reveal the whole structure that was buried there all along. That's how I feel writing sometimes, you have this flash of inspiration and you are trying to fit it into a form that looks aesthetically pleasing to you according to the traditions of story-telling. You kind of find yourself chasing up the tail of the dinosaur not knowing if it's a T. Rex or a Tryceratops. But something that looks good to you should generally look good to other people as well. So when I'm writing I'm thinking a lot about what feels right to me, but I don't think I'm so unique that what feels right to me won't feel right to other people (if I can execute it properly and there lies the rub).

My most recent story, A White Valentine's, came about due to me being 1,500 words into another Valentine's Day story about my male MC surprising my female MC with a visit to a nudist camp. I had quite a nice bit of banter in the car down and quite a nice surprise when they entered the reception of the camp, but as soon as they took their clothes off, I thought, fuck it's February in the UK, this is not going to work. I'm going to try and salvage that one for the nude day or midsummer events, but I immediately had the idea for another Valentine's story and the opening lines.

Everyone talks about a white Christmas. No one ever talks about a white Valentine's Day. Which is odd because, in the UK at least, we get far more snow in February than in December.

Now, admittedly if I handed that over to you, you might craft a lovely romantic story about, say, going ice-skating. I wrote a story about BDSM coldplay in the couple's garage, but that's where my dinosaur took me. It helped that I had two characters already ready from both my aborted story and other stories and so a lot of the discovery was 'What would Ben do?' and 'What would Hannah enjoy?'

In summary, when I write, I try to write the best darn story I can, and I'm not sure that's entirely internal to me and it sure as hell isn't entirely external.

 

[HeyAll]

I write stories that I'd want to read. But I write with readers in mind, always, and I try to get a target audience and think what they want. Having readers means a lot to me.

If there was a story that I really, really wanted to write -- but I knew it would have no audience -- then I wouldn't even bother writing it.

I've always said that writing has three pleasures; thinking of ideas, the actual writing and finishing, then people enjoying it.

 

[MrHereWriting]

I think a simple question of whether someone writes for themselves or for 'the public' is kind of missing the point, or maybe looking at things the wrong way.

They certainly are.

 

[SimonDoom]

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

I don't really see it as a choice. I like knowing that people read my stories. That's part of the pleasure. But I write with myself in mind as the reader, to satisfy my standards of what I think is a good story, based on over 50 years of being an avid reader of all types of fiction. For me, at least, I've found that being true to myself seems to be a good way of finding a considerable audience.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I wouldn't say that I write for myself, persay. I write the stories I wanna read and want other people to read. I'd like to make some money off this shit, eventually.

 

[KeithD]

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

Who do you write for and who are you willing to share your writing with are two different questions.

 

[Dark_Logan_]

I am so De La Soul on this matter

Third degree… that’s me, myself and I