# Why Do You Write?



## Galen (Jun 9, 2012)

I call myself a writer because I write novels, diary entries, essays, and letters. I wrote my novels to explore my own life, to understand people and life and why. I never considered publishing the novels. I saw no market for my essays. A few of my letters-to-the editor did get published.

Now, that I am trying to polish up my novels for publication, the reason why I wrote them is gone. I am older now. Maybe I know a little more about myself and people and life and why. So polishing the novels is not as exciting as writing the novels because the joy, hope, and mystery behind the words are gone. Plus, everywhere I look my stories have been told, well, maybe not exactly my stories but something similar.

But, I stil write. I write diary entries, short story summaries that pop into my head -- seems like I have been doing that forever. I need a new reason to write. I need to polish these novels and push them out the door.

I need to find new topics, new venues, new joy, hope and mystery.

Why do you write?


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## Jon M (Jun 9, 2012)

Galen said:


> Why do you write?


I don't know. Because it feels better than a colon cleanse?


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## Cefor (Jun 9, 2012)

I once read that there're only two reasons why you write...

Either you read an awesome book and you thought to yourself, "I want to write something just as good as that!".
Or, you read such an awful book that you thought, "If this crap can get published, then so can I!"

Or, both.

Either way, that's why I write. I read so much growing up that writing became a natural progression of that hobby.


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## Fin (Jun 9, 2012)

I dislike the world. So I create my own.


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## Sam (Jun 9, 2012)

Because it's less expensive than making a movie.


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## Potty (Jun 9, 2012)

Because I'm never going to get rich on my support workers salary.


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## Skodt (Jun 9, 2012)

For fun. A way to outlet some of the ideas I dream up. It's a way to escape and become someone else for a little while. It is like dreaming during the day. Which is the best part of having a functioniong brain in my opinion.


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## Tiamat (Jun 9, 2012)

So I don't kill people.  It's like a coping mechanism, really.


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## Kyle R (Jun 10, 2012)

I write for my readers.

Oh, I guess for myself, too! But mostly for them.


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## Sunny (Jun 10, 2012)

Because I love words. 

What better way to have a love affair with them, than to play around with them whenever I please. I can come and go, I can say what I want, mix them up, string them along, and they'll always be there, doing exactly what I tell them to. ;0)


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## dale (Jun 10, 2012)

i write because my written words are one of the few things that really impresses me about myself....i mean other than my stunningly good looks.


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## Kyle R (Jun 10, 2012)

Lol ^

And here I was thinking, during the beginning of the post, "That's a really profound answer."


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## garza (Jun 10, 2012)

So I don't have to get a job.


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## Trilby (Jun 10, 2012)

Because I can't sing.


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## JosephB (Jun 10, 2012)

Some people have more of a need to express themselves than others -- and they want people to see the results of that expression as having some value. It starts with an appreciation or love of something --followed by recognition:  “Hey, I think I can do that!”  

Mostly it’s about recognizing a way to meet a common, emotional need – the need for validation and approval -- with the added benefit of providing something that gives people enjoyment.

I think that’s why people write -- or paint or dance or make music. Those are the core motivations, anyway. Which is why I might care about what you write – but I don’t care all that much about why you say you do it.



Fin said:


> I dislike the world. So I create my own.



Well, that sounds poetic. 

The thing is, all kinds of people feel that way. But they aren't writers -- they're just delusional. More likely, you put it down on paper because you want to share your world with others -- and you want the satisfaction that comes from those people saying, I can relate to that, I got something from it, or I really enjoyed that etc. etc. I'm betting that's why you're really doing it -- not because you dislike the world so much.

Do you plan on keeping your writing all to yourself?


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## Gaseimasha (Jun 10, 2012)

I enjoy looking at all the pretty pictures.


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## Grape Juice Vampire (Jun 10, 2012)

I write because when I do, I feel like myself, like it is what I am supposed to be doing.


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## philistine (Jun 12, 2012)

The creative desire just happened to funnel itself into writing. Before that it was painting, drawing and sculpting. Now writing has come centre stage, and pushed the others toward the rear. 

What someone else said is also true, mind; that I read something brilliant, and wanted to do that myself.


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## Altan (Jun 14, 2012)

I have a really vivid imagination and think about things in great depth.
Writing just helps me put these into coherent narratives and ideas.

Plus I just like to tell stories.


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## MaggieMoo (Jun 14, 2012)

Because it's the only way I cope in this crazy mixed up world!


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## Nemesis (Jun 14, 2012)

Because my mind is filled with all these thoughts, images, people, and places and I just want to get them out and show people


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## Fin (Jun 14, 2012)

JosephB said:


> Fin said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I used to share my writing. The people who've read my work said they enjoyed it. The thing is, it doesn't phase me. I didn't feel good or bad about the feedback. After about two months of sharing, I stopped letting others read it. Sounds a bit selfish I suppose, but I don't see the point in doing something that I don't care about.

So yes, I do plan on keeping my writing to myself. Maybe that'll change in the future, but for now I'm living in a fantasy world because I dislike reality. Some say it's no life at all, and that's fine. Because for me personally, it's the only life worth living.

I guess you can mark me off as a delusional writer.


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## Nemesis (Jun 14, 2012)

I enjoy people enjoying my work. It might just be vanity but it makes me feel good that I created something other people enjoy.


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## Abdul-fattah (Jun 15, 2012)

Galen, here's an interesting quote by Einstein:

_If you can't explain something simply, you don't know enough about it. You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your  grandmother. _

So if your motivation for writing was to understand things, put things in it's place, then wouldn't your best motivation for publishing be to help others understand that? In my opinion the best books out there all have in common that the author actually had a message he/she wanted to share between the lines, without of course compromising the entertainment value of the book.


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## VancouverLady (Jun 15, 2012)

Because it comes out better than when I talk.  And I always have things to say...


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## PaulMcElligott (Jun 15, 2012)

Because there are books I want to read, but they don't exist yet...


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## Toadling (Jun 17, 2012)

I write because it is something natural, something innate, to who I am. I could stop breathing as soon as stop writing; I have been a writer for as long as I can remember. What is more beautiful than a clean, pristine sheet of paper with the first lines of crisp black ink drying on the page?

Moreover, as I have grown and my personality has matured, I have found writing to be a perfect outlet for my desire to teach others. I think a writer should bear a great deal of responsibility for the messages in their writing, for the moral and philosophical content of their work, and so I take great care to write material which should endure the test of time and provide insight as well as enjoyment for generations to come.


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## ika (Jun 17, 2012)

Because it's always been familiar to me, it's what I know. 

Writing is the one thing I keep coming back to no matter how far I drift or how lost I get. Whether it's writing in a diary, writing flash, or a short story, or a novel.

I've tried other things, I've wanted to be interested and like them ... but nothing has stuck around except writing. It's comforting and it just makes me feel at home. It always has. 

That, and it's a freaking good stress reliever.


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## TheStory (Jun 17, 2012)

I write because of storytelling. I am in love with telling a story, following amazing people, and experiencing something new. It is all for escapism.


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## JosephB (Jun 17, 2012)

Noxicity said:


> I enjoy people enjoying my work. It might just be vanity but it makes me feel good that I created something other people enjoy.



I think that's why most people write. They don't want to say it out loud, because they think it sounds vain or shallow. That's why you see people manufacturing all these poetic motivations like, "Writing is like breathing. I'd simply die if I didn't!" No. I don't think you would.


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## Kyle R (Jun 17, 2012)

My motivation recently changed. Now I'm writing to impress the judges of a contest so I can win the prize money and get published.


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## Jeko (Jun 17, 2012)

To do something other than read.

(The Hunger Games... now I can tell why it's so successful)


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## El Chacal (Jun 17, 2012)

I write because I have a fantastic amount of obscenely morally reprehensible stories in my head and they won't let me sleep at night.


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## Hela Depths (Jun 21, 2012)

I write stories. And I write them because there is no more unbearable feeling than having a story not told. I imagine an object, and then a whole world is created. A world with people, animals and elements, gods and goddesses. A world that needs to get out of me and be free. And, writing, I can free those worlds, those people, animals, elements, gods and goddesses.
I write because I love my worlds and I feel that they need to be loved by more than just one person. They need to be free and explore the real world, while the real world explores them.
That's why I write.
That's why I'll never stop writing.


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## PassTheDrinks (Jun 23, 2012)

My simple explanation is that I write because it makes me feel good. I also write because it's what I know best, and have been writing since I can remember. Which has been a good ten to twelve years. If you want to go deeper, I write to pretend. I like the feeling of being about to create your own world, people, and events. I like the idea that there are no real rules to writing. You are God on paper. And that is all I can explain.


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## SR Steed (Jun 28, 2012)

I write because that's the only time I have a way with words, and then there's that possibility that one day I might actually get paid for it.


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## KathyReynolds (Jun 28, 2012)

It's just something  I do, like breathing. It's the only way to get the people inside my head to be still and stop nagging me to tell their story.


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## Galen (Jun 28, 2012)

PassTheDrinks said:


> My simple explanation is that I write because it makes me feel good. I also write because it's what I know best, and have been writing since I can remember. Which has been a good ten to twelve years. If you want to go deeper, I write to pretend. I like the feeling of being about to create your own world, people, and events. I like the idea that there are no real rules to writing. You are God on paper. And that is all I can explain.



PasstheDrinks -- well said.


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## philistine (Jun 28, 2012)

I also write because I'm drunk; or at least, wine tends to efface that useless noise in my head, making way for the creativity.


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## GonneLights (Jun 28, 2012)

I have _always _been a writer. When I was hitting three I had written my first story. Like, seriously. I couldn't write in English, because I was just a toddler, but I would draw in hieroglyphs, not comic-book style, seriously hieroglyph-type style, just not egyptian. You'd have the whole story mapped out in hieroglyphs and you could follow it perfectly. When I learnt to speak I'd dictate to my mother and she'd write it down for me. So, now I'm 18, and I never stopped. It's just nature, to me, I know nothing else. I couldn't even tell you why, on a philosophical or subconscious level, I don't know why - I'm a _writer, _it's what I do! I don't care for or particularly want a career in it though. I'd like a few publications, but to me, or for me, it's not an occupation.


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## Galen (Jun 28, 2012)

KarKingJack said:


> I have _always _been a writer. When I was hitting three I had written my first story. Like, seriously. I couldn't write in English, because I was just a toddler, but I would draw in hieroglyphs, not comic-book style, seriously hieroglyph-type style, just not egyptian. You'd have the whole story mapped out in hieroglyphs and you could follow it perfectly. When I learnt to speak I'd dictate to my mother and she'd write it down for me. So, now I'm 18, and I never stopped. It's just nature, to me, I know nothing else. I couldn't even tell you why, on a philosophical or subconscious level, I don't know why - I'm a _writer, _it's what I do! I don't care for or particularly want a career in it though. I'd like a few publications, but to me, or for me, it's not an occupation.



I understand perfectly. While I have written in spurts, since my tweens, I have worked in the print industry because I love words. I love they way they look, the way they sound and how they can invoke emotions or images and more. I love books. I used to have a very large library. Now, I am learning to love words on the internet in its many forms.

I always have a notebook with me along with lots of pens, so that when I get an idea or something interesting happens I write it down.


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## Jon M (Jun 28, 2012)

At this point, I'm more interested in why writers romanticize the reasons why they write.


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## Nicky (Jun 28, 2012)

i write because i failed at everything else.


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## helium (Jun 28, 2012)

I write so I don't feel guilty about being unproductive


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## HooktonFonnix (Jun 28, 2012)

I. Have. To.


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## philistine (Jun 28, 2012)

El Chacal said:


> I write because I have a fantastic amount of obscenely morally reprehensible stories in my head and they won't let me sleep at night.



I could probably give you a run for your money on that.


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## JosephB (Jun 28, 2012)

Why do I write you ask? I write because words are like water to me. They flow from my mind like water, over a waterfall and into a pool of water. And that pool of water is called a “story.”


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## Gonzalothethird (Jun 28, 2012)

When I started writing, I had no excitement and no adventures that I decided to conjure my own excitement and adventures. After a few years, I felt that I could share my vision with the world. A few years after that, I actually shared them. I keep writing today with the same aspirations and dreams any other writer has, but I also write to keep sane...ish.


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## PaulMcElligott (Jun 30, 2012)

To shut up the voices in my head...


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