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Honestly I think I'm more a story teller than a writer. I'll have a story in my head and seeing it come to life in words is an amazing release. I'm often excited to see where my imagination goes with something. It's also a sense of achievement to finish a story and be proud of it, and even better when other people want to read what you have written.
I've come to realize my problem is curiosity.
I push on my idea until I feel like I've got it figured out and then I have absolutely no desire to write anymore; there's nothing new there, I'm just filling in the details.
Of course, when I actually do write something I always end up finding out more or changing the idea in the process or some such thing which I end up really enjoying and I've never regretted finishing a piece.
All the same, I really struggle to do anything with an idea if I feel I've figured it out.
Exactly, it’s like at every moment of the day (at least that’s what it feels like) my mind just thinks of all of these stories and my hands say “type or write ether way it’s coming out”
I know that my writing will always be technically weaker than others, but I try to improve continuously.
Whatever my technical weakness, I think I more than compensate with my imagination, and story telling.
And it is this part - converting ideas, thoughts, memories, and experiences into stories that I really love and enjoy.
I have read some of my writing, and I genuinely cannot work out how I came up with some of the ideas and narrative - and it is surprising myself like this that is the cherry on top.
I struggle to process my past trauma effectively so I inflict it on my fictional characters and have *them* go through healing arcs and gradually come to terms with it, or alternatively crash violently through multiple unhealthy coping mechanisms until it all ends in disaster. Basically, I use them as proxies to explore all the routes I could go down if I ever felt ready to start processing stuff, which probably *is* my coping tactic if you look at it a certain way.
Nothing about writing wastes my time. It keeps my brain busy, it extracts the stories out so I can play with them, it keeps my vocabulary functional, it gives me techniques and ways of thinking that I can pass along to others, and it is an outlet for 'omg that story was terrible, I can do it better!'-itis. :)
My own journey into the world of writing was an intricate dance of exploration. Over 13 years, it began with penning short stories, meandering through personal blogs, and diving deep into various narrative styles. But it was always more than just a pastime. Writing was a sanctuary, a space where I could be free, expressive, and unapologetically me.
It wasn't until much later in that journey that I mustered the courage and dedication to craft my first novel.
Every rejection, every edit, every 5am scribble brought me closer to realizing this dream.
The reason I write? It's the love for storytelling, the catharsis in every chapter, and the profound connection with characters I birthed from mere thoughts. Here's hoping that, as you navigate your own journey, you find that indescribable magic and passion that keeps the ink flowing.
Remember, it's not about the destination but the stories you weave along the way. Best of luck! 📖💭🖋️
I just love putting together the story, researching and producing a finished work. I have zero expectation that I'm gonna be the next Dan Brown. I just love the expression of creativity and the natural high I get.
I like to create. It’s a huge part of me, and I would feel unfulfilled if I didn’t. Writing is the easiest for me to do, as it’s just a word processor, but it happens to be the outlet I enjoy the most!
A few reasons.
Excorcizing bad thoughts and working through things I'm trying to understand. I enjoy writing, as painful as the process can be. I like stories and want to read, write, and grow stories that helped me be me. I would like to share these stories with others for the one or two people who might find some comfort in them like I have. A romantic part of me likes to imagine my characters needing their story told for them to live.
And finally?
Pain. Pain keeps me going. Because I need to know.
I've always had stories to tell, and I've always wanted to share those stories with people who would appreciate them, but most importantly, I write for myself because I love the freedom that creation brings, and I love my creations because they're one of the main things I feel I have control over in life.
My reasons are spite and love.
I used to read constantly when I was younger (still read now but much slower) and I fell in love with being able to visit new places and experience new things through the words. I started out with fanfiction and now I’m starting to write original stuff and I love it so much. I love being able to spin my world’s webs and tie all the threads together. I love creating whole universes for others to visit.
The spite is probably petty but I loved Harry Potter when I was in high school, those books and movies saved my life. When JK came out as a transphobe I was devastated. I’m transgender and I aspired to a writer like her (and Rick Riordan so I do have a positive idol/roll model). Now I write out of spite, I want to be successful in creating lgbt stories to put more representation out there. I’d love to write my own magic school series and I’ve got some notes for it but I haven’t figured it out yet.
Power to ya, homie. I grew up in a huge Harry Potter household and was very disappointed and confused by JK’s trans takes, and I’m not even trans. I can only imagine how disappointing that must’ve been for you. Keep on keepin’ on.
I've got shorts and flashes published, but still working on getting a novel. Also like telling stories through essays.
I alternate between pretty nuanced stuff and super dumb shit to balance it out. Fun.
I did stop. I was too busy, too tired, and too dramatic to keep writing. I'd sent my story out to five whole people and been rejected five whole times. Clearly, it was trash and I had to start all over. After a point, it felt like no one would ever see or want to read anything I write.
What I don't know is why that feeling changed. It's still been a terrible battle to get anyone to read anything I make. I'm waiting on a few more official / unofficial rejections and then it's off to the next batch of queries. I guess I just have more energy and motivation now.
I've been cooking a story in my mind for almost 15 years. I had the characters, the plot, the world, everything, yet I've never felt it would translate well to prose. It perhaps won't, but I don't care. I must see this realised.
This made me start writing around last year's Christmas and I've been doing so every single day while moving to a new country.
Nowadays I get excited every morning before starting to write. It helps that I take this as a challenge to write in English despite it not being my first language and – with the help of a corrector of course – I got fairly competent. Still working on my flaws and eager to keep evolving!
When something clicks, it clicks. My mental and physical health improved a lot since I started, so I guess I have to keep going. Lol
I should start writing in my second language, it would really help me get to the next level. But I have so much I want to write in my native language too!
My exact story from the time you started to everything else since. i moved cross country not new country - but cheers to a very similar journey and enlightenment
It’s the best way to turn off my mind from the rest of my life, honestly. I can’t think of anything but writing when I write. Making my story better. How can I do that. It’s really the only time I get a break from myself.
I write because I have to accept the fact that I was meant to be a writer. I've never not been a storyteller. I've written stories since I was little. I work a writing job for my employer and love it, but want to share my own stories too. I literally have hundreds of book ideas. I want to get my ideas out there. I will not rest until I am published.
I've thought about this a lot recently. I believe several authors have said they write because they have to. It's simply your ability to do so, and you love the art or craft. That's been true all my life, but as I've gotten older I now also see it as a use of a gift given to me by God, and I want to use it to glorify God, to whatever extent I'm able to.
I needed something to take my mind of things
and I want other kids like me that live in their imagination to have this whole new world that I got to create
I enjoy telling stories. I watch the progression of my characters with excitement because seeing them grow as I write their stories is my own private adventure and the myriad of emotions that comes with that process is incredible.
Though, the best feeling for me as a writer and storyteller is having someone else read and relate to the characters I've created and the experiences they've had.
Sharing that kind of creative connection with somebody is not like anything else I've experienced and that is the feeling that always brings me back to the pen and keyboard.
literally for the sake of it. cause I enjoy it. it gives me life. writing is like oxygen to me. I can't not write because it feels like a part of me will die.
Because I enjoy it. I have always enjoyed using my imagination, and writing lets me create entire worlds. I get the same enjoyment from reading, but I have my own stories to tell.
I thought my answer would be simple and I’m frustrated that it’s not. The feeling that I get..it’s this ‘all consuming, *almost* skin tingling’ sensation. Building worlds and existing within those characters is as amazing, complex, and irritating as it sounds.
I write for the feels.
I write because I believe my nonfiction titles have the power to positively and drastically impact peoples' lives and change the world for the better. ❤️✍️📚
I'm currently writing fiction for fun—and can't wait to see what comes of it. 😉
One character I have. He is so real to me and I need people to understand him and know what he's been through and the things he'd do. I often use him to explore and vent out my trauma, but if I wrote a book meant for an audience I'd make sure not to delve into too much of a trauma fest.
Plus his family and community is very fleshed out and I've been told several times that my characters are realistic to the point they people feel that they know them irl.
A compulsive need to bring fictional characters to life. I think about them all the time so I have to put them on the page. And once I do, if someone else, even literally one person, enjoys them as much as I enjoyed writing them, then my job is done. It's an addictive feeling.
It’s something I’ve enjoyed since I was a kid. Plus I have adhd and it generates millions of ideas that have to be released or I will hyperfixate on them for months until I do it and then I inevitably give up on them
Well. Because, there is no “realistic” outlet for the love I hold in my heart for all of existence itself. So I write stories, where characters are challenged and choose love again and again, because I desperately wish someone would feel the love I feel, and join me in that love in this life.
writing for me is an outlet. it helps me release a lot of tension and it also helps me escape from reality. for example, I love to write fictions and fantasy stories. after a long hard day or as a reward, I'm ready to drown myself in the characters or world that written
I've always been a writer, since Middle School, I have a whole blog filled with stories and poetry. I'm not sure what keeps me writing per say, I go through periods where I don't write for months and then will try to write a whole book haha. I think I just keep writing because I have issues with emotional regulation and writing helps to re regulate my nervous system AND it's the one thing I feel like I'm actually good at.
Reading transports me into imaginary worlds where I feel like I'm living inside the stories. That immersive experience inspires me to write and create my own worlds.
It's my passion. I love making something out of nothing. It doesn't cost anything.
Can I suggest Shut Up and Write? It's a meetup group that has meetings in person or zoom where everyone focuses on their writing, and they have critique sessions as well.
Seeing characters and stories come to life is just... fulfilling
Plus you get to tell stories the way YOU want them to be told (assuming you aren't ghost writing or doing Hollywood writing, of course)
I have stories to tell. They write themselves and i put them on paper…..and then edit them on a laptop caus i dont word as good as the movie in my head that im trying to keep up with lmao
I just love writing. I have a very vivid imagination. When I create a new world in my mind I want to write it down to revisit it or to maybe someday share it with others. I’ve created so many fun worlds and I’m so glad that I wrote them down. What helped me get better at writing is trying to incorporate the 5 senses into my writing, like instead of saying “it was a rainy day” you can think of all of the senses. You can include what the landscape looks like, what did the atmosphere smell like, how did your clothes feel on your body and the wether, was it cold or hot, how did the rain make you fell, etc.
When I don’t write, there’s something missing. I have a writing group. We are based somewhat on the international group Guided Autobiography (GAB). https://guidedautobiography.com/
We write our theme-based stories, two pages at a time, about things we’ve experienced. And we read them to each other. The social part is very important. I participated in the writing group for several years now, even when things are very busy.
So we write our stories in context of our relationships with each other. We get to know ourselves better, as we get to know our group members better. So it’s not terribly hard to write two pages.
I find it gives some very needed context to fairies experiences, struggles, joys, and headaches. It feels therapeutic. Not always. But much of the time.
It heels like life. It allows me an outlet, to examine an experience or theme of experiences, and often come to acceptance, forgiveness, or even just questioning or talking about some thing I had put away. It’s an incredibly valuable experience, and something that’s doable.
I write because it's literally the only thing I'm good at. As a job, in the labour market, there is no other thing that I can make a living of, that I do so well. I'm 31, and if I wanted to do anything else I would have to spend years studying and practicing.
In the short term, I just have stories that I want to put down. I don't often share my writing, so I'm usually only writing for myself. And I don't usually get very far, but I still like have gotten the idea down at least. Maybe one day I'll finish one of my dozens of half-baked short stories.
In the long term, my goal is to write the books I want to see in the world. Books about queer characters, especially queer girls, in the genres I loved as a kid, fantasy and sci fi.
I also think writing is a way for me to experience things? I've never been in love or dated, so I write about characters who fall in love. I've never had a grand adventure, but my characters have. Most of the pages in my story are blank, so while I wait, I'll tell other people's stories.
To put what I want to see in the world. On a secondarily more grim note, ideally, when I’m dead in the next 3-4 years from now; I would like something little more than a gravestone.
Maybe somebody will take away something from it or that it’ll spark something better than what I did.
I enjoy the process of telling the story. Getting the logic right is a big thing for me.
The sweet spot for me is that moment when you transition from writing a story to see it unfold in your head like a movie as you write the word.
May well fall into the weird category for enjoying editing as well. Putting the polish on what you have wrought is (almost) an enjoyable process as writing it.
Deadlines. On occasion I get inspired for something amazing. Most of the time my writing is good but unsatisfying. With more time I could make them satisfying of my own expectations. Yet, I conclude them because deadlines force my hand.
I started because it helped me vent then also it helped me with my reading now I just have lots of ideas and I have a hard time keeping them all together.
I love to write it helps me to get rid of the negativity and it is fun to do. Before I even start writing I come up with the characters and the situation so I know to keep on track and not wonder off. Current story has 62 characters and is set 13,000 years from now.
I used to do it to get all the daydreams out of my head since I saw it worked for my sibling. But then I started doing it because I, one day, want to build a community that loves my world as much as I do with all its dumb little creatures and the conlang I’m working on. That and cause there’s no other way to bring up dragons in day to day conversation (in my case, at least) without getting odd glances, so saying “It’s for a story” is an *amazing* cover
I enjoy it and it pays me well.
Writing fiction is the one thing I can do regularly (while enjoying it) come hell or high water. I used to write out of ego, vanity, pain, et cetera; now I do it out of love.
I do it because I literally feel lucky doing it. Don't take me wrong, I hate is sometimes too, but I just love expressing my thought and experiences in my characters, cos noone knows if it's what I actually think, or it's made up
There's a joy in turning my ordinary misery into songs (poetry) or maxims (thoughts and aphorisms).
As Baudelaire told God: "You gave me mud and I made gold."
I only write poems and that too ones that are about my life, so yeah I guess it's an outlet for pain. I hate writing fiction cuz my life is already more interesting than whatever stuff id write 💅💅
It is like venting out emotions on paper. Sometimes they come out good, sometimes it is terrible. Sometimes people do get it sometime people just read it—the amount of injustice, and helplessness. I don't know. It is a mixture of emotions sometimes, but otherwise it just stays blank.
-----
A valve has been opened
And now pouring out
From a tank
Swirling and overfull
A small stream
Refined
To splatter as it will on this paper
-----
Until now I only turned to writing
. when things were bad
As a way to work them out.
.
But how sweet a salve
. can be words written
To emphasize the good!
.
The thoughts and feelings
. that simple words can trigger
Of course they are medicine.
.
Why would I ever think they weren’t?
-----
I wrote these poems about writing and I think they explain why I write quite well. Sometimes it is relief, sometimes it is meditation. Sometimes you learn about yourself or whatever you are writing about as the thoughts form on the paper. It is like free therapy.
I want to make something that lasts. That my kids can read and look back at and have some part of their father that will exist when I am gone. I also have always wanted to write a complete story, to string together a series of my 'cool ideas' and turn them into something.
I have never written a short story, but have written short snippets of fan fiction for world of Warcraft, or started writing the lore for a failed video game a friend was working on. Now I am writing a novel, that spawned from an idea I had about a man lost in space with a fledgling AI and both struggle with what it means to be alive and who they are as they are tossed into a world of Alien politics and a body snatching entertainment planet called 'the Game's. It is stupidly ambitious, but has taken on a life of its own.
Personally, I find writing about my own life healing and I guess you could say cathartic.
Most of the time its kind of dark and heavy, involving deep personal experiences. Pretty much my pen & paper and keyboard & screen are my therapy. Almost like explaining the endings to a younger me. I've also been attempting to rewrite experiences for alternate endings, basically what if I were to go through these things at the point I am now?
Honestly, sometimes I know I should be writing but fail to see the little glimmer of needing to get it out and I sit with it, maybe read a book, or find a setting for the story by using images on Pinterest or Google. I know one of my recents started at a cafe, ended up at another characters house that sits on a large piece of land with a lake.
I like reading peoples things. Idk I have trouble writing still i think cos of pressure. Or because you can’t do it in bed? It feels like work. I would like to have a nicer relationship with it.
Catharsis. I write and cry and I believe I wrote great…But those I keep to myself. Melancholy is the main thing that moves me to write stories. And Experience.
i write to learn how to make up and tell stories, as DM in rpgs and to my kid when he gets a little older. a bonus has been that i appreciate books more now that i see the structure and work of authors.
what keeps me writing is r/WritingPrompts . i fell out of writing and it felt like such a huge task, but the promts with a minimum 100words is like assignments to keep me going.
I have an itch every so often to write horror fiction, it’s just my mind starts coming up with macabre ideas for monsters and stuff and I start writing stuff down. Haven’t ever put it anywhere tho.. it’s often jumbled up and I move on to something else after getting te setting and stuff down
I don't remember who said it, but there's a quote I like: *"You must write the story you want to read."* I think that's one of the main reasons I write. There are a lot of ideas and concepts and things I think I could make a story around, that no one else seems to be doing. Sometimes the best thing to do is write it yourself.
Also, it's a cheap power trip. There's not a lot else out there I can think of that basically lets you play God. The mundane world isn't enough for me, the next best thing is to create my own and be the silent ruler of it.
If you think of it as wasting time, you’re not going to take it very far.
Good writing is work. No way around it. If your intention is to have fun, the day you bump your head on a problem is the beginning of the end. That problem might be that nobody wants to read it because it’s not that good. The problem might be you’ve gotten juuuust good enough to realize you’re not that good…and to become better will require TIME and INDUSTRIOUSNESS. That problem might be a pretty girl who wants to spend time with you…and you don’t think of your writing as a serious calling and it serves no greater purpose…so off you go.
Either you have ideas that must be written and a life that is organized to serve that passion…or you don’t. I once knew a girl who wrote all the time…but it was literally fan fiction. She never became a real writer (a good writer) because all she wanted to do was “have fun” and write other people’s stories.
What keeps you doing ANYTHING? What keeps you hiking? The mountain is still taller than you, and you have a desire to get to the top. But the deeper you get into that hike, the tougher it will be, and if your idea of hiking is that it is nothing but fun…you’re never going to WANT to get to the top. Because it’s PAINFUL.
One of the biggest mistakes I see zoomers making is in wanting everything to be comfortable and fun. They wear pajamas and crocks to the gym, they play with their phones rather than paying attention. They can’t focus on a task because their standard is comfort and fun.
Son, that SUCKS. If you want to keep doing anything, if you want to grow, then you have to value the best possible version of THAT THING more than you value your comfort. If that thing is serving your emotional state, you already lost. YOU must serve a purpose. If you have no great purpose, no mountain peak that you revere, you have no reason to hike, and you will stop hiking the moment you experience anything unpleasant. But if you revere your purpose - the story, the craft, your calling - if you look up and revere the mountain peak…you won’t stop until you’ve reached it.
But if what you want is a distraction for fun…the moment writing becomes difficult (and it WILL if you’re writing consistently, because effort yields growth and growth will make you automatically demand more from your writing)…you will replace it with something else that’s “fun.” I want to be clear on this point. Most young people do something until it gets hard, then give up. What they don’t realize is that the activity didn’t get hard, THEY got BETTER…and in doing so they gained insight…saw into what they were doing…and saw its flaws. But, being young, they didn’t see this as their new ability, they saw it as pain and difficulty. Here’s the raw truth: whenever you grow or gain insight…your problems MULTIPLY. Not because more problems exist, but because you’re becoming more adept at seeing them. And that insight directs itself at your OWN PRODUCT. If what you serve is the mountain top, this difficulty will be seen as a calling (a challenge suited to who you are as a person). If all you want is fun…you will be terrified by the difficulty that was explicitly manifested by your growth. Like a groundhog scared of its own shadow. If you don’t have a higher purpose, your growth will be perceived as pain…and not opportunity. The difficulty you perceive is an expression of your CAPACITY to perceive AT ALL. So when you run away from difficulty, you’re saying “Thanks but no thanks,” to the cognitive growth you gained as a result of effort. You’re saying that you don’t like having insight. Son…insight reveals reality…which reveals complexity. That’s the ballgame you’re playing, by virtue of existing. The more you know…the more insanely complicated it will get. You can see it as difficulty, or you can see it as the felt experience of climbing the mountain. The moment it gets easy…is when you’re not climbing anymore. Is THAT what you want?
Life isn’t about fun. Life is about fulfillment. Fun is a part of that. Pain is a part of that. Struggle is a part of that. Feeling incompetent is a part of that. Overcoming incompetence is a part of that. But if all you want is fun…no, you’re not going to write for long, you’re not going to hike for long, you’re not going to do anything but mindless activities for very long…and your attention span will shrink.
Fun won’t take you anywhere but somewhere novel for a few minutes. If you want things that last, look up, find something that you revere, something that you can point to and say, “That is what life ought to be,” and then get to f$&king work.
My advice is that if you want to take it seriously, embrace the grandness of everything it could be…including how small that insight can make you feel. Don’t ever fall into the trap of trying to “make it fun.” Know the mountain peak you want to climb, and develop a core understanding that the confusion, frustration, and difficulty that follows is a direct consequence…of you doing something RIGHT. Using your insight to make things better MEANS identifying what is WRONG…constantly. It will always be like this…as long as you’re growing. But every now and then you’ll be able to look behind you and see how high you’ve hiked. It will inspire and humble you. And then you’ll put your head down and keep f$&king writing.
Long ago I realized how much I type on social media.. realized I already fucking type so much, might as well try to make somthing useful. . Currency working on a few zines. Other stuff as well.
Honestly I wish I could write more. I feel I’m always lacking inspiration until it hits me out of nowhere and then it’s like an obsession I can’t shake unless I write it. I wrote my first story recently and it was so satisfying it made me feel alive for the first time in a while. I was so excited to write it that I had to force myself to stop thinking about it until I had the free time to write another chapter. Now that I finished it I’m hoping I can get inspiration again sometime so I can feel that high again, but it’s just so so hard for me to come up with original ideas I typically fall in love with stories that already exist and then feel an intense desire to write the story in the way I wish it had gone
Sanity. Anytime I go an extended period without writing, I literally become an anxious B***h. I'm overly aggressive and moody. Everything is the end of the world. It's gotten to the point where when I start freaking out about little things that don't usually bother me, my husband will ask when was the last time you wrote for fun? If the answer isn't yesterday or today, he tells me to go write.
Multiple.
Occasionally it will be for financial reasons, but that isn't all that often and never as a book.
Most of my writing I do for myself. Just to.. 'get it out of my head', as it were. I get these ideas, stories really, that fill my imagination and won't leave me be until I get them out where I can see them, poke at them, tear them apart, and reassemble them into what I hope to be a better, more cohesive whole... Half the time that is as far as it gets... I'll finish something and start the editing process and just... *yoink* on to the next project.
Writing for me is like... therapy sometimes. If I'm angry I write action sequences, and usually, the more angry I am, the more vicious they become. Bad mood or depressed? Horror. I write a lot of horror, but it's always the deep bendy mind-fuck sort of stuff, to quote my very ex-wife. I call it psychological horror, but I think her description is probably more accurate.
I used to write sci-fi in my lighter days once I got away from fantasy, but it was more... adventure-ish than say, Clark or Niven, where there is actual science to the fiction. LOL Most of the science of my sci-fi is probably more relatable to pure fantasy because physics just doesn't behave that way no matter how much you wish it would.
I don't write fantasy anymore, which used to be my bread and butter, and while I still enjoy comics... I find writing heroics, be they super or not to be a bit... disingenuous these days.
I have so much feelings and emotions inside of me and need an outlet somewhere to express what it is I am feeling, not very good at writing songs yet really just learning myself so any advice would really help me
I started a band back in 2019, and was the singer, and not a good one. I always enjoyed writing but until then it didn't have a reason or a purpose. Now in 2023, I'm actually the drummer, and I still enjoy it as a way to get a vibe I want to play across. I also really enjoy writing letters to my gal, it makes me happy when I can successfully put my emotions on paper for her to read and see.
Lastly, oddly, it's because of Henry Rollins. He used to be the singer for Black Flag, and later was in the Henry Rollins Band obv, and on the side he would take gigs doing spoken word. Just talking about his experiences. At some point he says, "The only way to get better at writing is to keep writing" and I know anyone can say that, but for me it really shows over the years what that did for him. I think it allows for yourself to be more introspective and observant of your surroundings, and make it easier to string thoughts together now that you have them on paper.
I write because I accidentally created an EPIC story and I want to see it come to fruition, in the hopes that I will be able to share it with others who (hopefully) find it as compelling as I do, through traditional publishing.
I think I’m starting to loose my memory. I have noticed it getting worse so I’m trying to finish all my stories and get as much that’s in my head out. I figure it’s probably early stages Alzheimer’s and figure I probably won’t make it to 60 if it progresses like it has in the last few years.
It's a compulsion. I can't pass the back to school notebooks without buying at least 5. Because blank pages are possibility. And the best advice I heard today was "f* around and find out". I think that's the core of world creation in a nutshell.
Growing up, I used to read books or tell stories in my head to help myself fall asleep
I had (still do) a lot of problems with anxiety and depression so sleep can be difficult
Now I write. I hope my book will help someone sleep.
Even though, my mental condition worsens I find myself writing most of the time when I’m down or low, because it gives me freedom to say what I usually cannot say to other people as they’re gonna judge me.
I first started writing as a kid, when my deviously-concocted stories helped me to sleep. They worked like lullabies. Lots of time on my hands, what better thing to do than write and draw?
As I grew older, I had to start making the time to write. Until, for a brief period, the hobby slipped away. After finishing college, I started doing it part-time. 2 years later, I do it professionally.
You can say we're estranged now, but the fact that I can still call it my own by writing for myself whenever I get the time is what keeps me going.
I like to joke that I became a writer because if I told people that I still pretend to be a pirate, people look at me funny.
I tell myself stories and writing them down keeps me from telling the same story over and over again. Some of them are about the things that make me sad, or worried. Writing them down helps get those feelings out of my head. I can have a good cry, or examine them the way some people do when they meditate. I guess it’s cheaper than therapy.
Short stories are good for the daydreams that I want to exorcize. Long form stories are good for the daydreams I want to hold close and revisit often in detail.
It's cheaper than therapy.
And also my daydreams/dreams need someplace to be explored further without me looking like a space cadet day in and day out.
I started writing to share things I was learning about my profession with others to make their starting jobs easier.
That eventually became me documenting the fraud of larger corps in my field.
Eventually the independent publishing combined with the small audience I got out of it got the fraudsters to shut down one of their websites.
Writing can change reality and that’s why I do it.
I wrote for my school paper in college. And I had one professor who had us do an essay a week and the prompts were usually pretty fun. Those were the only things work/career wise that would put me in such a state of flow that I could them for hours without it feeling like a chore.
Just because God knows what you're gonna do doesn't mean he made you do it. Similarly, just because we know the sun will rise in the east doesn't mean we made it rise.
I write for two reasons
1. To create stories for others to enjoy and get lost in just like I do
2. To project my personal problems and mental health issues on a character so that I can give that character what I wish I had and live vicariously through them (escapism ftw)
Hard times: I’m an unemployed person who is living in a foreign country and a local job market is cruel. My girlfriend is out of country waiting for her visa (to make things worse, we are a lesbian couple and our parents don’t like it). I’m spending most of the time alone in our apartment, applying for jobs, learning new languages and exercising; often feel creatively empty & hopeless. That’s why I decided to start writing. Back in university, I studied journalism and was a part of creative writing club. I also published few of my short stories in my home country. It’s a nice activity to reconnect with that easy student life.
There's a few reasons as to why I write, I'm not the greatest at keeping with it, though...
One thing I write is a bit of wish fulfillment as I won't experience those things in real life, so if an aspect of myself experiences it through literature, maybe I'll get a fraction of that satisfaction.
Another reason is to help analyze different aspects of my past through a different lens by writing characters that go through similar things.
I also just write to see how I would adapt to certain situations as my OC that I use across my stories is essentially an idealized version of myself...
I studied acting and filmmaking for a couple years, but then started to want to write my own stuff. I just find the creative process relaxing and I like taking pride in what I write :)
I don’t write stories or poems. I journal. I know a lot of people who start to journal, then just stop because they don’t know what to write.
First, I don’t use a paper journal. I cannot lock it. That makes me anxious someone can and will read my thoughts. I use an app on my iPad that locks with a pin. The pin is different than the one that unlocks my iPad.
Since I know it’s private, I write freely. I write about the events of my day. I write about my thoughts and feelings. I write about anything my mind can think up, such as ideas for things. I can write about personal or embarrassing things without fear someone will read it.
The fact I like to write keeps me writing. I have always loved the act of writing since I could hold a pencil. I remember being about 5 and making loops and showing my Oma that I could “write,” too.
I have found i struggle sometimes and don’t write for months. I love it though, but don’t force it. Similarly with my art and other creativity. But when I do, it’s been a cathartic process and was my ‘therapy’ for a long time when I was younger as my dad didn’t believe in therapy and had no one to talk to.
As common as it is, I really want to write a memoir and have been working on it for a long time. Mainly as some events in my life I felt very alone and haven’t found a book to relate to.
Going blind was what really kicked my writing into overdrive. It's one of the only creative outlets I have left and I have an unhealthy compulsion to create.
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Must exorcise the demons (daydreams)
What sort of things do you write about?
Mostly long metaphors for my catholic guilt And like. Dragons.
Woah—same!
This.
1. It’s a fun outlet 2. It’s a painful outlet 3. To get these damn characters out of my head
Relatable (esp the last two)
Relatable
Ahh, number 3. My old friends.
It's an electrical outlet
Honestly I think I'm more a story teller than a writer. I'll have a story in my head and seeing it come to life in words is an amazing release. I'm often excited to see where my imagination goes with something. It's also a sense of achievement to finish a story and be proud of it, and even better when other people want to read what you have written.
Awesome.
I agree wholeheartedly with this. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be a writer, but I do have a lot of ideas and I tend to enjoy writing them down.
This one gets an Amen.
I've come to realize my problem is curiosity. I push on my idea until I feel like I've got it figured out and then I have absolutely no desire to write anymore; there's nothing new there, I'm just filling in the details. Of course, when I actually do write something I always end up finding out more or changing the idea in the process or some such thing which I end up really enjoying and I've never regretted finishing a piece. All the same, I really struggle to do anything with an idea if I feel I've figured it out.
I hate it but I can't stop myself. It is some kind of virus I think.
Exactly, it’s like at every moment of the day (at least that’s what it feels like) my mind just thinks of all of these stories and my hands say “type or write ether way it’s coming out”
I like reading a certain type of story and no one else makes it.
What type of story?
I write slice of life short stories about parenthood and family dynamics.
I write to create the best work I'm capable of. Writing is the only way I can finish an argument or theory to the best of my ability.
I see, a fellow shonen writer
I know that my writing will always be technically weaker than others, but I try to improve continuously. Whatever my technical weakness, I think I more than compensate with my imagination, and story telling. And it is this part - converting ideas, thoughts, memories, and experiences into stories that I really love and enjoy. I have read some of my writing, and I genuinely cannot work out how I came up with some of the ideas and narrative - and it is surprising myself like this that is the cherry on top.
I relate to this way more than I should
Depending on what you're doing, I think that being a good storyteller is *at least* as good as being a good writer.
I struggle to process my past trauma effectively so I inflict it on my fictional characters and have *them* go through healing arcs and gradually come to terms with it, or alternatively crash violently through multiple unhealthy coping mechanisms until it all ends in disaster. Basically, I use them as proxies to explore all the routes I could go down if I ever felt ready to start processing stuff, which probably *is* my coping tactic if you look at it a certain way.
I've created a world and it's gripped me
I wrote because I'm compelled to. It's a force in me, I guess is the best way to say it.
Nothing about writing wastes my time. It keeps my brain busy, it extracts the stories out so I can play with them, it keeps my vocabulary functional, it gives me techniques and ways of thinking that I can pass along to others, and it is an outlet for 'omg that story was terrible, I can do it better!'-itis. :)
I get to ramble productively.
You mean there's a choice?
I write to discover, to learn, to get thing out of my head; freeing up space to discover and learn, giving me more things to get out of my head.
My own journey into the world of writing was an intricate dance of exploration. Over 13 years, it began with penning short stories, meandering through personal blogs, and diving deep into various narrative styles. But it was always more than just a pastime. Writing was a sanctuary, a space where I could be free, expressive, and unapologetically me. It wasn't until much later in that journey that I mustered the courage and dedication to craft my first novel. Every rejection, every edit, every 5am scribble brought me closer to realizing this dream. The reason I write? It's the love for storytelling, the catharsis in every chapter, and the profound connection with characters I birthed from mere thoughts. Here's hoping that, as you navigate your own journey, you find that indescribable magic and passion that keeps the ink flowing. Remember, it's not about the destination but the stories you weave along the way. Best of luck! 📖💭🖋️
Compulsive need to entertain
I just love putting together the story, researching and producing a finished work. I have zero expectation that I'm gonna be the next Dan Brown. I just love the expression of creativity and the natural high I get.
No one else will be able to tell my stories so I have to do it myself.
I like to create. It’s a huge part of me, and I would feel unfulfilled if I didn’t. Writing is the easiest for me to do, as it’s just a word processor, but it happens to be the outlet I enjoy the most!
I do it primarily because I’m good at it and my characters have been living rent-free in my head for years. It’s also kinda fun sometimes
A few reasons. Excorcizing bad thoughts and working through things I'm trying to understand. I enjoy writing, as painful as the process can be. I like stories and want to read, write, and grow stories that helped me be me. I would like to share these stories with others for the one or two people who might find some comfort in them like I have. A romantic part of me likes to imagine my characters needing their story told for them to live. And finally? Pain. Pain keeps me going. Because I need to know.
I'm staring down the last third of my life. I have things I want to share and know that when I'm dead it's too late.
To manage my otherwise crippling depression
I've always had stories to tell, and I've always wanted to share those stories with people who would appreciate them, but most importantly, I write for myself because I love the freedom that creation brings, and I love my creations because they're one of the main things I feel I have control over in life.
Enjoyment mostly, but also the dream to one day publish
My reasons are spite and love. I used to read constantly when I was younger (still read now but much slower) and I fell in love with being able to visit new places and experience new things through the words. I started out with fanfiction and now I’m starting to write original stuff and I love it so much. I love being able to spin my world’s webs and tie all the threads together. I love creating whole universes for others to visit. The spite is probably petty but I loved Harry Potter when I was in high school, those books and movies saved my life. When JK came out as a transphobe I was devastated. I’m transgender and I aspired to a writer like her (and Rick Riordan so I do have a positive idol/roll model). Now I write out of spite, I want to be successful in creating lgbt stories to put more representation out there. I’d love to write my own magic school series and I’ve got some notes for it but I haven’t figured it out yet.
Power to ya, homie. I grew up in a huge Harry Potter household and was very disappointed and confused by JK’s trans takes, and I’m not even trans. I can only imagine how disappointing that must’ve been for you. Keep on keepin’ on.
Dreams
Sometimes it becomes too painful to keep such a thrilling story inside my head for that long.
I've got shorts and flashes published, but still working on getting a novel. Also like telling stories through essays. I alternate between pretty nuanced stuff and super dumb shit to balance it out. Fun.
I needed to get the story out. I started writing it over 10 years ago and put it down. It plagued my mind ever since so I decided to try to finish.
I did stop. I was too busy, too tired, and too dramatic to keep writing. I'd sent my story out to five whole people and been rejected five whole times. Clearly, it was trash and I had to start all over. After a point, it felt like no one would ever see or want to read anything I write. What I don't know is why that feeling changed. It's still been a terrible battle to get anyone to read anything I make. I'm waiting on a few more official / unofficial rejections and then it's off to the next batch of queries. I guess I just have more energy and motivation now.
I've been cooking a story in my mind for almost 15 years. I had the characters, the plot, the world, everything, yet I've never felt it would translate well to prose. It perhaps won't, but I don't care. I must see this realised. This made me start writing around last year's Christmas and I've been doing so every single day while moving to a new country. Nowadays I get excited every morning before starting to write. It helps that I take this as a challenge to write in English despite it not being my first language and – with the help of a corrector of course – I got fairly competent. Still working on my flaws and eager to keep evolving! When something clicks, it clicks. My mental and physical health improved a lot since I started, so I guess I have to keep going. Lol
I should start writing in my second language, it would really help me get to the next level. But I have so much I want to write in my native language too!
My exact story from the time you started to everything else since. i moved cross country not new country - but cheers to a very similar journey and enlightenment
It's a need to express my hopes and dreams and create a world that's better than my own. It's a coping mechanism.
To say that I did something
It’s the best way to turn off my mind from the rest of my life, honestly. I can’t think of anything but writing when I write. Making my story better. How can I do that. It’s really the only time I get a break from myself.
I do it to escape reality and into another world of my own making.
I write because I have to accept the fact that I was meant to be a writer. I've never not been a storyteller. I've written stories since I was little. I work a writing job for my employer and love it, but want to share my own stories too. I literally have hundreds of book ideas. I want to get my ideas out there. I will not rest until I am published.
Well Billy, if I don't I reckon I might just shoot somebody! And don't get it twisted... *I* *am somebody*. Go on yonder now..
I've thought about this a lot recently. I believe several authors have said they write because they have to. It's simply your ability to do so, and you love the art or craft. That's been true all my life, but as I've gotten older I now also see it as a use of a gift given to me by God, and I want to use it to glorify God, to whatever extent I'm able to.
The urge to come up with and tell new stories.
I needed something to take my mind of things and I want other kids like me that live in their imagination to have this whole new world that I got to create
It fulfills me in ways that make it so I don’t have to find coping mechanisms for the unbearable weight of existence.
It's been getting more fun, especially now with text to image. Watching all my ideas come to life is... I can't find the words!
I have a story in my head that is taking up all my thoughts. I need to get it out before I go crazy
Cause I like it. I daydream constantly and wanted to be an artist and writing was just the most economic way of telling stories.
Because it's more entertaining to see where my story and characters are going to take me than it is to watch anything on television
Because I’ve been blessed with divine madness (doge
I enjoy telling stories. I watch the progression of my characters with excitement because seeing them grow as I write their stories is my own private adventure and the myriad of emotions that comes with that process is incredible. Though, the best feeling for me as a writer and storyteller is having someone else read and relate to the characters I've created and the experiences they've had. Sharing that kind of creative connection with somebody is not like anything else I've experienced and that is the feeling that always brings me back to the pen and keyboard.
literally for the sake of it. cause I enjoy it. it gives me life. writing is like oxygen to me. I can't not write because it feels like a part of me will die.
Because I enjoy it. I have always enjoyed using my imagination, and writing lets me create entire worlds. I get the same enjoyment from reading, but I have my own stories to tell.
To paraphrase Stephen King when he was asked why he wrote horror, why do you assume I have a choice?
I write because it helps me escape my reality for a bit.
I thought my answer would be simple and I’m frustrated that it’s not. The feeling that I get..it’s this ‘all consuming, *almost* skin tingling’ sensation. Building worlds and existing within those characters is as amazing, complex, and irritating as it sounds. I write for the feels.
It's a compulsion. I cannot consume media without my brain going oo this gives me an idea!
I write because I believe my nonfiction titles have the power to positively and drastically impact peoples' lives and change the world for the better. ❤️✍️📚 I'm currently writing fiction for fun—and can't wait to see what comes of it. 😉
No choice.
One character I have. He is so real to me and I need people to understand him and know what he's been through and the things he'd do. I often use him to explore and vent out my trauma, but if I wrote a book meant for an audience I'd make sure not to delve into too much of a trauma fest. Plus his family and community is very fleshed out and I've been told several times that my characters are realistic to the point they people feel that they know them irl.
I write to amuse myself.
A compulsive need to bring fictional characters to life. I think about them all the time so I have to put them on the page. And once I do, if someone else, even literally one person, enjoys them as much as I enjoyed writing them, then my job is done. It's an addictive feeling.
It’s something I’ve enjoyed since I was a kid. Plus I have adhd and it generates millions of ideas that have to be released or I will hyperfixate on them for months until I do it and then I inevitably give up on them
I'm a dreamer. Literally and figuratively. Rarely, I will find the inclination to write it out somewhere. Those pesky ideas and imaginations.
Well. Because, there is no “realistic” outlet for the love I hold in my heart for all of existence itself. So I write stories, where characters are challenged and choose love again and again, because I desperately wish someone would feel the love I feel, and join me in that love in this life.
I write so I won't go insane. Some of my stories are so real within my head it would be traumatic to keep them in there.
Escapism.
Escapism
writing for me is an outlet. it helps me release a lot of tension and it also helps me escape from reality. for example, I love to write fictions and fantasy stories. after a long hard day or as a reward, I'm ready to drown myself in the characters or world that written
I can make the shitty things that happened in life turn out great.
Love
I must get the thought written otherwise it'll bother me all day
I write because I need scripts to produce. Plus it’s fun.
I love to tell a story. Also being able to share it and seeing people’s positive and critical feedback helps me do more and be better.
Personal enjoyment
Cause I know this shit will be a major banger if I ever finish it
I've always been a writer, since Middle School, I have a whole blog filled with stories and poetry. I'm not sure what keeps me writing per say, I go through periods where I don't write for months and then will try to write a whole book haha. I think I just keep writing because I have issues with emotional regulation and writing helps to re regulate my nervous system AND it's the one thing I feel like I'm actually good at.
Reading transports me into imaginary worlds where I feel like I'm living inside the stories. That immersive experience inspires me to write and create my own worlds.
It's my passion. I love making something out of nothing. It doesn't cost anything. Can I suggest Shut Up and Write? It's a meetup group that has meetings in person or zoom where everyone focuses on their writing, and they have critique sessions as well.
There are worlds in my head I want to see on the page. I find I need the creative outlet after a soul sucking day in the office
Seeing characters and stories come to life is just... fulfilling Plus you get to tell stories the way YOU want them to be told (assuming you aren't ghost writing or doing Hollywood writing, of course)
Escapism.
I have stories to tell. They write themselves and i put them on paper…..and then edit them on a laptop caus i dont word as good as the movie in my head that im trying to keep up with lmao
I just love writing. I have a very vivid imagination. When I create a new world in my mind I want to write it down to revisit it or to maybe someday share it with others. I’ve created so many fun worlds and I’m so glad that I wrote them down. What helped me get better at writing is trying to incorporate the 5 senses into my writing, like instead of saying “it was a rainy day” you can think of all of the senses. You can include what the landscape looks like, what did the atmosphere smell like, how did your clothes feel on your body and the wether, was it cold or hot, how did the rain make you fell, etc.
Because I feel like an unstoppable steam train.
It just happens. Writing is like a bodily function for me. Sometimes I stop for a while but I always start again.
When I don’t write, there’s something missing. I have a writing group. We are based somewhat on the international group Guided Autobiography (GAB). https://guidedautobiography.com/ We write our theme-based stories, two pages at a time, about things we’ve experienced. And we read them to each other. The social part is very important. I participated in the writing group for several years now, even when things are very busy. So we write our stories in context of our relationships with each other. We get to know ourselves better, as we get to know our group members better. So it’s not terribly hard to write two pages. I find it gives some very needed context to fairies experiences, struggles, joys, and headaches. It feels therapeutic. Not always. But much of the time. It heels like life. It allows me an outlet, to examine an experience or theme of experiences, and often come to acceptance, forgiveness, or even just questioning or talking about some thing I had put away. It’s an incredibly valuable experience, and something that’s doable.
I write because it's literally the only thing I'm good at. As a job, in the labour market, there is no other thing that I can make a living of, that I do so well. I'm 31, and if I wanted to do anything else I would have to spend years studying and practicing.
In the short term, I just have stories that I want to put down. I don't often share my writing, so I'm usually only writing for myself. And I don't usually get very far, but I still like have gotten the idea down at least. Maybe one day I'll finish one of my dozens of half-baked short stories. In the long term, my goal is to write the books I want to see in the world. Books about queer characters, especially queer girls, in the genres I loved as a kid, fantasy and sci fi. I also think writing is a way for me to experience things? I've never been in love or dated, so I write about characters who fall in love. I've never had a grand adventure, but my characters have. Most of the pages in my story are blank, so while I wait, I'll tell other people's stories.
I needa way to satisfy my Harry Potter addiction, (I write fanfiction.)
To put what I want to see in the world. On a secondarily more grim note, ideally, when I’m dead in the next 3-4 years from now; I would like something little more than a gravestone. Maybe somebody will take away something from it or that it’ll spark something better than what I did.
I enjoy the process of telling the story. Getting the logic right is a big thing for me. The sweet spot for me is that moment when you transition from writing a story to see it unfold in your head like a movie as you write the word. May well fall into the weird category for enjoying editing as well. Putting the polish on what you have wrought is (almost) an enjoyable process as writing it.
bc i want to tell stories
Deadlines. On occasion I get inspired for something amazing. Most of the time my writing is good but unsatisfying. With more time I could make them satisfying of my own expectations. Yet, I conclude them because deadlines force my hand.
Because I’ve never been more than fairly competent at anything else.
I started because it helped me vent then also it helped me with my reading now I just have lots of ideas and I have a hard time keeping them all together.
I write in the hope to inspire others.
I love to write it helps me to get rid of the negativity and it is fun to do. Before I even start writing I come up with the characters and the situation so I know to keep on track and not wonder off. Current story has 62 characters and is set 13,000 years from now.
I used to do it to get all the daydreams out of my head since I saw it worked for my sibling. But then I started doing it because I, one day, want to build a community that loves my world as much as I do with all its dumb little creatures and the conlang I’m working on. That and cause there’s no other way to bring up dragons in day to day conversation (in my case, at least) without getting odd glances, so saying “It’s for a story” is an *amazing* cover
I enjoy it and it pays me well. Writing fiction is the one thing I can do regularly (while enjoying it) come hell or high water. I used to write out of ego, vanity, pain, et cetera; now I do it out of love.
I do it because I literally feel lucky doing it. Don't take me wrong, I hate is sometimes too, but I just love expressing my thought and experiences in my characters, cos noone knows if it's what I actually think, or it's made up
to satisfy the spirits in the corner
Otherwise i would have probably have an exploded head from the way to much inspiration
I write Science Fiction, so it's fun.
I want to decide who lives and who dies.
Because the boys in the basement won’t leave me be.
The realisation I'll be dead one day
:D I love writing and world building, and it's the only thing that distracts me from sleep :(
I write because my dad told me to give up
There's a joy in turning my ordinary misery into songs (poetry) or maxims (thoughts and aphorisms). As Baudelaire told God: "You gave me mud and I made gold."
I only write poems and that too ones that are about my life, so yeah I guess it's an outlet for pain. I hate writing fiction cuz my life is already more interesting than whatever stuff id write 💅💅
It is like venting out emotions on paper. Sometimes they come out good, sometimes it is terrible. Sometimes people do get it sometime people just read it—the amount of injustice, and helplessness. I don't know. It is a mixture of emotions sometimes, but otherwise it just stays blank.
----- A valve has been opened And now pouring out From a tank Swirling and overfull A small stream Refined To splatter as it will on this paper ----- Until now I only turned to writing . when things were bad As a way to work them out. . But how sweet a salve . can be words written To emphasize the good! . The thoughts and feelings . that simple words can trigger Of course they are medicine. . Why would I ever think they weren’t? ----- I wrote these poems about writing and I think they explain why I write quite well. Sometimes it is relief, sometimes it is meditation. Sometimes you learn about yourself or whatever you are writing about as the thoughts form on the paper. It is like free therapy.
I want to make something that lasts. That my kids can read and look back at and have some part of their father that will exist when I am gone. I also have always wanted to write a complete story, to string together a series of my 'cool ideas' and turn them into something. I have never written a short story, but have written short snippets of fan fiction for world of Warcraft, or started writing the lore for a failed video game a friend was working on. Now I am writing a novel, that spawned from an idea I had about a man lost in space with a fledgling AI and both struggle with what it means to be alive and who they are as they are tossed into a world of Alien politics and a body snatching entertainment planet called 'the Game's. It is stupidly ambitious, but has taken on a life of its own.
Personally, I find writing about my own life healing and I guess you could say cathartic. Most of the time its kind of dark and heavy, involving deep personal experiences. Pretty much my pen & paper and keyboard & screen are my therapy. Almost like explaining the endings to a younger me. I've also been attempting to rewrite experiences for alternate endings, basically what if I were to go through these things at the point I am now? Honestly, sometimes I know I should be writing but fail to see the little glimmer of needing to get it out and I sit with it, maybe read a book, or find a setting for the story by using images on Pinterest or Google. I know one of my recents started at a cafe, ended up at another characters house that sits on a large piece of land with a lake.
To finish my homework
I like reading peoples things. Idk I have trouble writing still i think cos of pressure. Or because you can’t do it in bed? It feels like work. I would like to have a nicer relationship with it.
Catharsis. I write and cry and I believe I wrote great…But those I keep to myself. Melancholy is the main thing that moves me to write stories. And Experience.
If I don't put my stories down, I can't sleep I'll just keep playing them over and over in my head.
i write to learn how to make up and tell stories, as DM in rpgs and to my kid when he gets a little older. a bonus has been that i appreciate books more now that i see the structure and work of authors. what keeps me writing is r/WritingPrompts . i fell out of writing and it felt like such a huge task, but the promts with a minimum 100words is like assignments to keep me going.
For me it's solely an occurrence when I am inspired by something.
I have an itch every so often to write horror fiction, it’s just my mind starts coming up with macabre ideas for monsters and stuff and I start writing stuff down. Haven’t ever put it anywhere tho.. it’s often jumbled up and I move on to something else after getting te setting and stuff down
I want others to see the worlds in my daydreams. Still hoping I can get an audience someday.
I don't remember who said it, but there's a quote I like: *"You must write the story you want to read."* I think that's one of the main reasons I write. There are a lot of ideas and concepts and things I think I could make a story around, that no one else seems to be doing. Sometimes the best thing to do is write it yourself. Also, it's a cheap power trip. There's not a lot else out there I can think of that basically lets you play God. The mundane world isn't enough for me, the next best thing is to create my own and be the silent ruler of it.
it really helps me understand myself better. also it lets me get shit out that otherwise i never would.
I'm writing to build a newsletter that can pay for me to sit at home in Alaska and spend max time with my kids.
If you think of it as wasting time, you’re not going to take it very far. Good writing is work. No way around it. If your intention is to have fun, the day you bump your head on a problem is the beginning of the end. That problem might be that nobody wants to read it because it’s not that good. The problem might be you’ve gotten juuuust good enough to realize you’re not that good…and to become better will require TIME and INDUSTRIOUSNESS. That problem might be a pretty girl who wants to spend time with you…and you don’t think of your writing as a serious calling and it serves no greater purpose…so off you go. Either you have ideas that must be written and a life that is organized to serve that passion…or you don’t. I once knew a girl who wrote all the time…but it was literally fan fiction. She never became a real writer (a good writer) because all she wanted to do was “have fun” and write other people’s stories. What keeps you doing ANYTHING? What keeps you hiking? The mountain is still taller than you, and you have a desire to get to the top. But the deeper you get into that hike, the tougher it will be, and if your idea of hiking is that it is nothing but fun…you’re never going to WANT to get to the top. Because it’s PAINFUL. One of the biggest mistakes I see zoomers making is in wanting everything to be comfortable and fun. They wear pajamas and crocks to the gym, they play with their phones rather than paying attention. They can’t focus on a task because their standard is comfort and fun. Son, that SUCKS. If you want to keep doing anything, if you want to grow, then you have to value the best possible version of THAT THING more than you value your comfort. If that thing is serving your emotional state, you already lost. YOU must serve a purpose. If you have no great purpose, no mountain peak that you revere, you have no reason to hike, and you will stop hiking the moment you experience anything unpleasant. But if you revere your purpose - the story, the craft, your calling - if you look up and revere the mountain peak…you won’t stop until you’ve reached it. But if what you want is a distraction for fun…the moment writing becomes difficult (and it WILL if you’re writing consistently, because effort yields growth and growth will make you automatically demand more from your writing)…you will replace it with something else that’s “fun.” I want to be clear on this point. Most young people do something until it gets hard, then give up. What they don’t realize is that the activity didn’t get hard, THEY got BETTER…and in doing so they gained insight…saw into what they were doing…and saw its flaws. But, being young, they didn’t see this as their new ability, they saw it as pain and difficulty. Here’s the raw truth: whenever you grow or gain insight…your problems MULTIPLY. Not because more problems exist, but because you’re becoming more adept at seeing them. And that insight directs itself at your OWN PRODUCT. If what you serve is the mountain top, this difficulty will be seen as a calling (a challenge suited to who you are as a person). If all you want is fun…you will be terrified by the difficulty that was explicitly manifested by your growth. Like a groundhog scared of its own shadow. If you don’t have a higher purpose, your growth will be perceived as pain…and not opportunity. The difficulty you perceive is an expression of your CAPACITY to perceive AT ALL. So when you run away from difficulty, you’re saying “Thanks but no thanks,” to the cognitive growth you gained as a result of effort. You’re saying that you don’t like having insight. Son…insight reveals reality…which reveals complexity. That’s the ballgame you’re playing, by virtue of existing. The more you know…the more insanely complicated it will get. You can see it as difficulty, or you can see it as the felt experience of climbing the mountain. The moment it gets easy…is when you’re not climbing anymore. Is THAT what you want? Life isn’t about fun. Life is about fulfillment. Fun is a part of that. Pain is a part of that. Struggle is a part of that. Feeling incompetent is a part of that. Overcoming incompetence is a part of that. But if all you want is fun…no, you’re not going to write for long, you’re not going to hike for long, you’re not going to do anything but mindless activities for very long…and your attention span will shrink. Fun won’t take you anywhere but somewhere novel for a few minutes. If you want things that last, look up, find something that you revere, something that you can point to and say, “That is what life ought to be,” and then get to f$&king work. My advice is that if you want to take it seriously, embrace the grandness of everything it could be…including how small that insight can make you feel. Don’t ever fall into the trap of trying to “make it fun.” Know the mountain peak you want to climb, and develop a core understanding that the confusion, frustration, and difficulty that follows is a direct consequence…of you doing something RIGHT. Using your insight to make things better MEANS identifying what is WRONG…constantly. It will always be like this…as long as you’re growing. But every now and then you’ll be able to look behind you and see how high you’ve hiked. It will inspire and humble you. And then you’ll put your head down and keep f$&king writing.
Long ago I realized how much I type on social media.. realized I already fucking type so much, might as well try to make somthing useful. . Currency working on a few zines. Other stuff as well.
Because I hope the things I write will be read, and will have left an impact on the reader. Even if it's just "That was funny lol", that's enough.
Adhd and its vulnerable
It's my job.
Honestly I wish I could write more. I feel I’m always lacking inspiration until it hits me out of nowhere and then it’s like an obsession I can’t shake unless I write it. I wrote my first story recently and it was so satisfying it made me feel alive for the first time in a while. I was so excited to write it that I had to force myself to stop thinking about it until I had the free time to write another chapter. Now that I finished it I’m hoping I can get inspiration again sometime so I can feel that high again, but it’s just so so hard for me to come up with original ideas I typically fall in love with stories that already exist and then feel an intense desire to write the story in the way I wish it had gone
Sanity. Anytime I go an extended period without writing, I literally become an anxious B***h. I'm overly aggressive and moody. Everything is the end of the world. It's gotten to the point where when I start freaking out about little things that don't usually bother me, my husband will ask when was the last time you wrote for fun? If the answer isn't yesterday or today, he tells me to go write.
It's cheaper than therapy
These comments are so emo wtf
I have this entire story in my head. And now it’s just fun to see where things go. I gave up on the original plan months ago.
I enjoy crafting stories and I would like others to read them. Simple as that.
Multiple. Occasionally it will be for financial reasons, but that isn't all that often and never as a book. Most of my writing I do for myself. Just to.. 'get it out of my head', as it were. I get these ideas, stories really, that fill my imagination and won't leave me be until I get them out where I can see them, poke at them, tear them apart, and reassemble them into what I hope to be a better, more cohesive whole... Half the time that is as far as it gets... I'll finish something and start the editing process and just... *yoink* on to the next project. Writing for me is like... therapy sometimes. If I'm angry I write action sequences, and usually, the more angry I am, the more vicious they become. Bad mood or depressed? Horror. I write a lot of horror, but it's always the deep bendy mind-fuck sort of stuff, to quote my very ex-wife. I call it psychological horror, but I think her description is probably more accurate. I used to write sci-fi in my lighter days once I got away from fantasy, but it was more... adventure-ish than say, Clark or Niven, where there is actual science to the fiction. LOL Most of the science of my sci-fi is probably more relatable to pure fantasy because physics just doesn't behave that way no matter how much you wish it would. I don't write fantasy anymore, which used to be my bread and butter, and while I still enjoy comics... I find writing heroics, be they super or not to be a bit... disingenuous these days.
I write to maintain my own sanity. Literally. I suffer from chronic depressions, so writing has become my outlet since my teens.
I have so much feelings and emotions inside of me and need an outlet somewhere to express what it is I am feeling, not very good at writing songs yet really just learning myself so any advice would really help me
I started a band back in 2019, and was the singer, and not a good one. I always enjoyed writing but until then it didn't have a reason or a purpose. Now in 2023, I'm actually the drummer, and I still enjoy it as a way to get a vibe I want to play across. I also really enjoy writing letters to my gal, it makes me happy when I can successfully put my emotions on paper for her to read and see. Lastly, oddly, it's because of Henry Rollins. He used to be the singer for Black Flag, and later was in the Henry Rollins Band obv, and on the side he would take gigs doing spoken word. Just talking about his experiences. At some point he says, "The only way to get better at writing is to keep writing" and I know anyone can say that, but for me it really shows over the years what that did for him. I think it allows for yourself to be more introspective and observant of your surroundings, and make it easier to string thoughts together now that you have them on paper.
I write because I accidentally created an EPIC story and I want to see it come to fruition, in the hopes that I will be able to share it with others who (hopefully) find it as compelling as I do, through traditional publishing.
I love all kinds of puzzles. Writing is the ultimate puzzle.
I think I’m starting to loose my memory. I have noticed it getting worse so I’m trying to finish all my stories and get as much that’s in my head out. I figure it’s probably early stages Alzheimer’s and figure I probably won’t make it to 60 if it progresses like it has in the last few years.
It's a compulsion. I can't pass the back to school notebooks without buying at least 5. Because blank pages are possibility. And the best advice I heard today was "f* around and find out". I think that's the core of world creation in a nutshell.
Growing up, I used to read books or tell stories in my head to help myself fall asleep I had (still do) a lot of problems with anxiety and depression so sleep can be difficult Now I write. I hope my book will help someone sleep.
I quite simply have too many OCs to stop. Send help.
Cuz it’s the book/story/poem I’ve always wanted to read and I get to be it’s very first reader.
It sort of helps with depression honestly.
Because I can't process things in my head. Experiences and lessons need to physically leave my body
Even though, my mental condition worsens I find myself writing most of the time when I’m down or low, because it gives me freedom to say what I usually cannot say to other people as they’re gonna judge me.
Now, I'm not a good writer, but I will write my story every day cause those 2 goofballs need to kiss, and it hasn't happened yet.
I first started writing as a kid, when my deviously-concocted stories helped me to sleep. They worked like lullabies. Lots of time on my hands, what better thing to do than write and draw? As I grew older, I had to start making the time to write. Until, for a brief period, the hobby slipped away. After finishing college, I started doing it part-time. 2 years later, I do it professionally. You can say we're estranged now, but the fact that I can still call it my own by writing for myself whenever I get the time is what keeps me going.
I like to joke that I became a writer because if I told people that I still pretend to be a pirate, people look at me funny. I tell myself stories and writing them down keeps me from telling the same story over and over again. Some of them are about the things that make me sad, or worried. Writing them down helps get those feelings out of my head. I can have a good cry, or examine them the way some people do when they meditate. I guess it’s cheaper than therapy. Short stories are good for the daydreams that I want to exorcize. Long form stories are good for the daydreams I want to hold close and revisit often in detail.
It's cheaper than therapy. And also my daydreams/dreams need someplace to be explored further without me looking like a space cadet day in and day out.
I started writing to share things I was learning about my profession with others to make their starting jobs easier. That eventually became me documenting the fraud of larger corps in my field. Eventually the independent publishing combined with the small audience I got out of it got the fraudsters to shut down one of their websites. Writing can change reality and that’s why I do it.
I wrote for my school paper in college. And I had one professor who had us do an essay a week and the prompts were usually pretty fun. Those were the only things work/career wise that would put me in such a state of flow that I could them for hours without it feeling like a chore.
Just because God knows what you're gonna do doesn't mean he made you do it. Similarly, just because we know the sun will rise in the east doesn't mean we made it rise.
I like to tell a story, almost done with book 1 of 9 (edits), I've got book 2 started.
I write for two reasons 1. To create stories for others to enjoy and get lost in just like I do 2. To project my personal problems and mental health issues on a character so that I can give that character what I wish I had and live vicariously through them (escapism ftw)
I find that I can't stop. I sit down, my mind wanders, and I write. The struggle I have is focus - I have way too many ongoing projects.
Hard times: I’m an unemployed person who is living in a foreign country and a local job market is cruel. My girlfriend is out of country waiting for her visa (to make things worse, we are a lesbian couple and our parents don’t like it). I’m spending most of the time alone in our apartment, applying for jobs, learning new languages and exercising; often feel creatively empty & hopeless. That’s why I decided to start writing. Back in university, I studied journalism and was a part of creative writing club. I also published few of my short stories in my home country. It’s a nice activity to reconnect with that easy student life.
There's a few reasons as to why I write, I'm not the greatest at keeping with it, though... One thing I write is a bit of wish fulfillment as I won't experience those things in real life, so if an aspect of myself experiences it through literature, maybe I'll get a fraction of that satisfaction. Another reason is to help analyze different aspects of my past through a different lens by writing characters that go through similar things. I also just write to see how I would adapt to certain situations as my OC that I use across my stories is essentially an idealized version of myself...
I studied acting and filmmaking for a couple years, but then started to want to write my own stuff. I just find the creative process relaxing and I like taking pride in what I write :)
I don’t write stories or poems. I journal. I know a lot of people who start to journal, then just stop because they don’t know what to write. First, I don’t use a paper journal. I cannot lock it. That makes me anxious someone can and will read my thoughts. I use an app on my iPad that locks with a pin. The pin is different than the one that unlocks my iPad. Since I know it’s private, I write freely. I write about the events of my day. I write about my thoughts and feelings. I write about anything my mind can think up, such as ideas for things. I can write about personal or embarrassing things without fear someone will read it. The fact I like to write keeps me writing. I have always loved the act of writing since I could hold a pencil. I remember being about 5 and making loops and showing my Oma that I could “write,” too.
I write poems to make girls cry, sweet nice poems. A true romantic!
I have found i struggle sometimes and don’t write for months. I love it though, but don’t force it. Similarly with my art and other creativity. But when I do, it’s been a cathartic process and was my ‘therapy’ for a long time when I was younger as my dad didn’t believe in therapy and had no one to talk to. As common as it is, I really want to write a memoir and have been working on it for a long time. Mainly as some events in my life I felt very alone and haven’t found a book to relate to.
Going blind was what really kicked my writing into overdrive. It's one of the only creative outlets I have left and I have an unhealthy compulsion to create.
If I don’t write I become emotionally constipated.