Why do you write?

[NaughteeDragon]

MB was diagnosed with TNBC, (Triple Negative Breast Cancer), I wrote for her and for us to get our minds off of the hell she was going through. I would write during the hours and hours we sat through her treatments and days later when she was sick from the chemo, I would read to her.

Now one year into MB’s remission, I write still from necessity but a necessity to have these emotional and physical thoughts in the recesses of my slutty brain come to life and be shared.

I love (and am jealous) that you do this for your partner and share it with them. That is beautiful and wonderful.

 

[MiaBabe23]

I started writing, and I am freakishly afraid to say this, but out of necessity for therapeutic reasons. I was suicidal and have been for many many years.

There I said it. I battle daily but am really safe now.

I wanted to live again and eight years ago, I got sick, really sick, esophageal cancer. I never smoked but ai battled cancer and beat it five years ago. I needed a reason to write.

So I wrote initially for me. Then three years ago when I posted the first stories, mind you without an editor nor a beta reader, I was pummeled with pros, cons, and several “drop dead’s”. Knowing I am better than that I continued and wrote through my recovery. Then I wrote for fun.

MB was diagnosed with TNBC, (Triple Negative Breast Cancer), I wrote for her and for us to get our minds off of the hell she was going through. I would write during the hours and hours we sat through her treatments and days later when she was sick from the chemo, I would read to her.

Now one year into MB’s remission, I write still from necessity but a necessity to have these emotional and physical thoughts in the recesses of my slutty brain come to life and be shared.

That’s powerfully said

 

[AchtungNight]

Because it’s fun.

 

[onehitwanda]

I started writing, and I am freakishly afraid to say this, but out of necessity for therapeutic reasons. I was suicidal and have been for many many years.

There I said it. I battle daily but am really safe now.

I wanted to live again and eight years ago, I got sick, really sick, esophageal cancer. I never smoked but ai battled cancer and beat it five years ago. I needed a reason to write.

So I wrote initially for me. Then three years ago when I posted the first stories, mind you without an editor nor a beta reader, I was pummeled with pros, cons, and several “drop dead’s”. Knowing I am better than that I continued and wrote through my recovery. Then I wrote for fun.

MB was diagnosed with TNBC, (Triple Negative Breast Cancer), I wrote for her and for us to get our minds off of the hell she was going through. I would write during the hours and hours we sat through her treatments and days later when she was sick from the chemo, I would read to her.

Now one year into MB’s remission, I write still from necessity but a necessity to have these emotional and physical thoughts in the recesses of my slutty brain come to life and be shared.

Oh honey.

 

[BryanRichardson]

Me? At my heart, I'm a ratings whore and I know it.

Why do I write? Because I’m a horny fucker and I was using this site to jerk off until I came to the conclusion that I could do at least as well as some of the writers I had seen here. I wanted to share my fantasies with others as a way to give back.

However, a couple of people had written so well that I was invested in the throw-away characters that they created and shared and wanted to continue their stories. I got permission to do that from two authors and my continuation stories turned out ok. One of those authors just contacted me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I was going to write another chapter soon. The original author wants to see where else I can take their character? Fuck yeah. That’s motivation, right there.

6) conquering a category - this has been my motivation for the last year, but since I just wrote in the last category for Survivor it is no longer an issue for me.

1) lots of views - with lots of views comes lots of the other stuff below, too. it’s easy, just publish in T/I or LW.

2) lots of votes - also easy, T/I or LW and somehow Crossdressing? Or did I get lucky with that story? Also, including stories in contests and competitions seems to help if you are looking for votes. And views as far as that goes.
3) lots of comments - LW, but half of them will be “you suck”. I’ve gotten a few comments on other stories that have been very motivating and supportive and those are the best of all.

4) lots of favorites (hearts) - these are great, since I know that the stories I’ve favorited are those that i think I might jerk off to again. And given the wide variety of available porn that is saying a lot.

5) a high rating (or just an H) - year, this is my real goal. I want those H’s. Mostly because it means people thought it was good, but also because more people will read them in the future.

Yeah, so I’m sharing stuff that I think might turn other people on, whoring myself out for H’s, to give back to people who wrote something sexy in the past. That’s me, sharing it forward.

 

[ADirtyPerv]

I started writing to let the perv out, so that I could write other stuff. And as a test bed to see if I was any good.

Then I discovered comments, and my normally-gray and blah brain was suddenly dripping in neurochemicals that simulate happiness but are actually just addictive. Not a lot of sleep was had for a while there. I'd been unprepared for comments, as I was just a lurker on here since forever. When they poured in, it was just a lot.

But lately, I've been enjoying the way my writing helps me preserve memories. I often write in little bits of stuff that I've done with people I care about (usually my wife), and it helps because I don't have very strong emotions unless I'm reading something, and memories are usually tied to emotions. So my memories are a little weak. Reading parallels to or recreations of those events through the lens of my own writing kinda helps me preserve those moments in amber, and simulate some of those emotions that I can't remember.

Just gotta be careful not to alter stuff too much, or to write out an event that gets stuck in a WIP folder, never to be recollected.

Should probably just start a journal, but those don't get comments from my Lord and savior Anonymous.

 

[YmaOHyd]

I started purely through negative polarization. I was reading something that's both highly rated and much-read, thinking "this guy doesn't understand his own story. This isn't very good. I could do better." And I felt like I had to put up or shut up.

On the three points, I think I come out at a solid 1.5/3. I don't think he's misunderstood his story; I think he's just aiming lower than I would. I didn't understand what he was going for. Purely as a measure of quality, my work stands up. I wanted to know if I could do better, and I think I've shown myself that I can. On the other hand, I can't possibly be as prolific, and quantity has a quality of its own. That's something I can't match and I'm not sure I'd want to.

Now it's just pure enjoyment. I write when I want to and don't when I don't.

 

[calmlikeabomb]

Earlier, I used to write for my own pleasure. For the journey of exploring my craft.

Then all my serotonin evaporated like the last mist before spring.

Now I write for the dopamine hit of watching numbers next to my name go up.

 

[TheExperimentalist]

I am not re-asking the question from Chloe's outstanding thread that still resurfaces regularly. I want to know what success looks like for you.

From comments scattered around AH regularly, there are at least seven different definitions I have seen

1) lots of views
2) lots of votes
3) lots of comments
4) lots of favorites (hearts)
5) a high rating (or just an H)
6) a new category "conquered"
7) a story that was interesting or well written or used some feature you wanted

Certainly all six of these are true for many of these at some point, for some stories. But one or two of these are most important at any given time.

For me, I started out here looking for 4). Then I thought I cared more for 3). Then I shifted back to 4). Now it depends on the story. If I am writing just another Romance of LS story, I want the rating. I love comments and favorites, but at the end of the day, I look at the rating.

But about half of my stories are about exploring something new for myself, and I'm less driven by the rating. I knew Cupcake Caper was not going to be well rated, but it was a blast to write. I wrote my first novel a few months ago. It turned out reasonably rated, but I was happy that I was able to write a coherent 120K. One of my recent stories was both a new category and I played with point of view in a new way, that I guessed mostly worked.

For some authors, I think this choice drives category choice. If you really care about views and especially votes, there are only a couple of categories that make sense.

Me? At my heart, I'm a ratings whore and I know it.

Options 1-5 are fundamentally different from 6 and 7. Were it not for the last two, the question would basically be 'what kind of feedback do you find most gratifying'. 6 and 7 are more personal satisfaction, and I definitely WRITE primarily for my own exploration, creativity, and variety, but the question of what gratification I hope to get when I POST is the question that intrigues me more, so I'm going to focus on just 1-5.

All of them give me a sense that people appreciate the twisted things that come out of my head, that I'm actually contributing something. However, for me, the answer is definitely 3, with a caveat: 'Lots' implies quantity, but that's not quite the vibe either. Every INDIVIDUAL supportive comment I get fills me with such joy, for one simple reason: It's easy to click on a 5, or toss a story into a favorites pile with however many hundred others. Every vote looks the same. Every favorite looks the same. Every red H looks the same. A comment is different. It's a person's own words, something they've taken time and given thought to formulating, something from their heart. In a way, it's the readers giving back just a teensy bit of what the writer gave them. Just a snippet of wisdom, a tiny anecdote, or even just a little 'you go, girl' that they're expressing in their own unique way. That, to me, is what makes it most worthwhile.

 

[OddLove]

1. I enjoy the process of creating something with my imagination.

2. I can live vicariously through my stories since I'm introverted and don't socialize, date, or fool around with people.

Why I share my writings on here?

It feels nice when someone else likes something I created. It's like the ultimate cherry on top.

 

[StrentWriter]

I was widowed, felt lonely, needed a challenge (and like most here, had a lot of pent up energy!)

Also, had always wanted to write a novel. So why not an NSFW one? Erotic romance? Romantic eroticism?

And now I stay because I’m actively writing a second.

 

[NaughteeDragon]

I previously answered this that I write because I want to tell stories. That is true. I write here because sex is fun to write.

Honestly, my most recent story, A Gift She Wasn’t Expecting, could have been written for a general literature site if I changed her sexual experiment partners from her parents to a couple of very good friends. I would have wanted to scale back the explicitness of the sex as well. However, explicit, emotional sex with her parents was interesting to write and carries a certain frisson of the taboo that you can’t express in a public domain.

 

[HotCosmo]

Why do I write? Because sometimes I have some ideas inside my head that I need to make something with. Because it's fun. Because it's a good way to keep practicing English day to day.
Why do I write erotica? Because I'm horny, I want to experiment with things that I don't feel prepared to try in real life, and I'm going to be honest, I felt sexy as hell.
Why do I publish some of my stories here? Well, I think I like to make something and that the rest of the people appreciate it. So if I had to make a ranking, I would say that comments (while positive) are first, lots of favorites are second, and ratings are third. Although let's be honest, the really good thing is having a lot of everything