Why Do You Write?

[impressive]

Lou asked me the title question on another thread. I don't want to sidetrack that thread, so I'm bringing it here.

I write to give voice to my thoughts, feelings, fantasies, etc.

I share my work in the hopes that it will make an "impression" on the readers -- make 'em question assumptions, think outside their proverbial box, laugh, cry, or get off.

I do not write for "glory." I have enough self-esteem to not need accolades from others. That being said, the same self-esteem will not allow me to stand still while being unfairly slapped around -- nor will I stand idly by while others are unfairly slapped around. That's just not "me."

If there's going to be a rating system, then I'll be working to make it fair and even-handed. To do less is hypocrisy, IMO -- but that's just "me."

~ Imp

 

[OhMissScarlett]

For me, it's purely escapism. I've been doing it so long that I can't imagine not writing. As I've gotten older, it's become a coping mechanism for dealing with stress and depression. Some people drink or gamble, but I write compulsively. At the darkest point in my life, I was unable to write for over a year and I went more than a little crazy. What brought me out of it was the sheer desire to tell my stories, which has always been my only goal for writing.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

I write mostly because I can; I do it for the personal challenge, to explore my own creative impulse on as many different venues as possible, and writing by night is a good counter-point to architecture and visual arts that I work on during the day. Being appreciated by the readers is neat, but what makes me keep writing is that spark that we can only feel the second we realise something we create is coming together and it is good.

And congratulations on the 5000th post, Imp!

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Being appreciated by the readers is neat, but what makes me keep writing is that spark that we can only feel the second we realise something we create is coming together and it is good.

That sums it up beautifully.

 

[TheEarl]

Lauren has it absolutely spot on. I write because I can. I have the talent, I have the ideas and it seems silly not to.

The knowledge that other people read my works and the feedback are a major component too, but if they stopped, then I wouldn't stop.

The Earl

 

[Alex De Kok]

Lauren has it absolutely spot on. I write because I can. I have the talent, I have the ideas and it seems silly not to.

The knowledge that other people read my works and the feedback are a major component too, but if they stopped, then I wouldn't stop.

The Earl

What he said, about what she said. I would still be writing without Lit, because I can.

Alex

 

[Guest]

Lou asked me the title question on another thread. I don't want to sidetrack that thread, so I'm bringing it here.

I write to give voice to my thoughts, feelings, fantasies, etc.

I share my work in the hopes that it will make an "impression" on the readers -- make 'em question assumptions, think outside their proverbial box, laugh, cry, or get off.

I do not write for "glory." I have enough self-esteem to not need accolades from others. That being said, the same self-esteem will not allow me to stand still while being unfairly slapped around -- nor will I stand idly by while others are unfairly slapped around. That's just not "me."

If there's going to be a rating system, then I'll be working to make it fair and even-handed. To do less is hypocrisy, IMO -- but that's just "me."

~ Imp

Thanks for answering, Imp. I think I understand you a little better now.


As for me and why I write... It's simply because I love to and almost have to. My mind is so full of sexual fantasies and stories (non-sexual, too), that I just have to get them down. If I didn't, I think I'd go mad. I am driven to write, and it's an addiction and passion that I love.

As for why I share my stories, it's simply in the hope that they will entertain others and they will enjoy them.

Lou

 

[oggbashan]

I write because I have to.

It's the voices in my head telling me what to write about and criticising all the time because I cannot get down the perfect story that my Muses want me to write.

I would write even if all my stories stayed concealed on my hard drive, were never printed and never read.

Only when I have the story written do the voices stop - for a while until they want the next one, and the next...

Og, compulsive writer

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Writin gi smy escape, from the trap my life has become. I share simply because there are some great people who enjoy my works. If they had not gone out of their way to let me know they enjoy them, I would probably be back to just writing for me. But I will always write. The worlds in my head are the only places I can really be free to be me.

 

[doormouse]

I used to write because my muse was someone I loved with all my heart.

He's gone, so I have nothing to share. All my stories are half done.

I wish I had inspiration like the rest of you.

 

[TheEarl]

I wish I had inspiration like the rest of you.

I could take my jeans off as well if that would help?

The Earl

 

[yui]

I write because I love it. I wrote long before I posted anything on this site. If Lit were gone, I would still write. Most of the things I write I never post anyway, but I still enjoy the process.

Luck,

Yui

 

[doormouse]

I could take my jeans off as well if that would help?

The Earl

LOL

Try it

 

[TxRad]

From an early age, i wanted to write but never had the time or the place to do it. I think that should be "I never took the time". Hindsight.... Also, my grades in English classes were shall we say, barely enough to get by.

A number of years ago, I was on a job that had a lot of down time and we had just started to use computers.... i got bored and decided to write out an old memory just for my own benefit. i found the spell checker and grammar checker and that was it. I was hooked.

I still write for my own amusement and enjoyment but I've posted a few stories now and I find other people like them... it makes it even better....

 

[Wildcard Ky]

I write because every now and then I get what I think is a pretty good story in my head. I'm not one of these people that writes all the time. I wait for something to come to me. When I do actually write it, I get completely immersed in it. I am in the story as I write it.

I don't know if that's a form of escapism or not. I do know that when I'm done and ready to share it with others, it's 100% me. Others may not think it's that good, but if I've shared it, it's the way I want it to be.

 

[TxRad]

I used to write because my muse was someone I loved with all my heart.

He's gone, so I have nothing to share. All my stories are half done.

I wish I had inspiration like the rest of you.

Have ever thought that our inspiration is a future muse or the perfect muse or the muse missed..

i think you should or could try something along those lines.... You never know, writing can make you look at things and people differently... for good and/or bad....

 

[curious2c]

Heh I could say that I write to amaze myself, because I do with each story I finish and submit. Actually, I began writing because firstly, I felt that I had taken (read, read, read all those stories) and needed to give back something to the 'circle'. Secondly, because for a while, I was finding so many stories that were becoming hubby bashing or wimping in unloving and unhealthy ways. Kind of bummed me out when nine out of ten stories would be a wife walking all over the hubby and flaunting her lifestyle in front of him, to his detriment.

In the end, I wrote in other areas and in other ways to let out some pent up frustrations. It seems that most of my life, I have been a guy that many come to to 'talk' about personal things. Things that I usually had no real answers for other than to just listen. After a while, it can have a negative effect on one's personna. I had to release some of it somehow...and writing seemed to fill that bill quite well.

If any here knew of my past, you'd probably be very surprised that I write at all. I hated school, english especially. Who'd a thunk I'd become an author? heh...well...a writer trying to be an author...heh heh.

 

[rgraham666]

I write because it's the only thing I do well.

It's also an outsider's trade. I don't have to worry about being 'normal' when I write, I only have to write.

I will admit I enjoy getting the feedback. As I've explained before, the best I could hope for in the way of feedback for most of my life was nothing. It's nice to get positive feedback for what I do.

And it engages my mind, lets me think about things, and then I put it into words because I'm good at that.

 

[neonlyte]

The first person who read anything I'd creatively penned since leaving school longer ago than I care to remember was Zoot. He told me I could write. Then Lou, and Perdita; and Gauche once praised a short written in broad Yorkshire. Since then countless others.

Now I write because I know I can. I'm fortunate enough to be in the position to re-shape my life to write full time, another year, possibly two and I will write, for myself, to post here or elsewhere or for publication - if I'm extremely lucky.

I'm writing to discover myself and the things that have always interested me that I've been too busy or too careless to allow the attention they deserve. It's a voyage of discovery, with many facets, not least Lit and the supportive camaraderie inherent where people with like objectives congregate. If there were no Lit, or tomorrow I decide to leave, as alas I must do later this week for a period, I will still write, but I would miss the chance to banter and titilate and the foil it provides to the steady task of crafting what others might enjoy to read.

 

[cantdog]

I'd like to say that I'm digging this thread.

I don't write very often or very well, myself. Not fiction, anyway. I do a fair polemic, and I can explain and teach in written form, but my fiction is pretty weird and unappetizing. And I don't feel driven or fulfilled, except in a substitute-for-fleshly-sex sort of way. Any fiction I begin turns to the prurient because of my deficit in real sex. Just as my deepest interest in art is to do nudes and smut.

My polemics I self-publish and use in the streets at demos, or they might end as letters to pols and editorial pages. Those are good. Although I can't point to a single mind I've changed with them, the same spiels delivered in person have had an effect.

But how good can smut be? Don't give me Anaïs Nin. Much of Nin is cryptic to the point of incomprehensibility, for me, and none of it erotic. I was never able to finish the one book I bummed. It convinced me that there was a gigantic gulf between me and the minds of women, for I assumed that it must be women who thought this erotic. A decade later, after a lot of consideration, I could see across that gulf, and women are nearly always comprehensible with a little luck, and always interesting to talk with, the smart ones, anyway. So who the fuck is reading Nin?

Some of the authors here are demonstrations of how good smut can be, and I do appreciate that. They leave Nin in the dust. I'm not that kind of good, but I don't have to be. Your investment of gut and soul is beyond what I can do in fiction.

cantdog

 

[cloudy]

I write because I have to.

 

[English Lady]

I write because I just can't seem to NOT write.

In school I wrote on paper with pen, 3 or 4 different fantasies of differing length, poems and a diary. I had to write, it helped process my emotions.

I still write now, fantasies, poems, online journals and posts everyday for exactly the same reason -I have to. I can, I will and I do.

I can't help but write, it's just what I do. It's me, it's how I opperate and I'd grind to a halt if I couldn't do it.

 

[maggot420]

I write because it hurts more not to.

 

[minsue]

I write because it hurts more not to.

Yes

 

[Bridget69]

I write because it is how I can best express myself. I always feel at a loss for words when communicating verbally, but when I write, my train of thought is endless.
I also enjoy writing because I consider it a talent, and I've received a lot of praise in regards to it.