Why do you write? - Page 2

matthewcplourde · 10-06-2010, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J.H. Farr

Hey Matthew! Great blog you have, I just bookmarked it. And BTW, Mike Cane (@mikecane on Twitter) describes a writer thusly:

"a person who must write, who is unsuited to everything else except writing"

Works for me...

John Hamilton Farr
http://www.farrfeed.com/

Thanks so much John!

I'm coast-hopping the next few days so I'll be sure to return the favor over at your blog, probably from some random airport.

@durkinrobinson - I'm not nearly that self-seeking, but I appreciate those who are... your words have a way of moving people. For me, I just love weaving a great story and Maya Angelou sums it up best:
“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”

@Valmore - That quote is a little too heady for me (I'm a simple guy). I prefer the straightforward: "Myth is more potent than history." (Story Teller's Creed) But, I'm a fiction writer, so...

M T McGuire · 10-06-2010, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bthrowsnaill

Music is typically my muse. And I do think that my best ideas and concepts have come when I've been driving. Nice avatar btw.

Ooo thank you, it's the leading man's wheels out of my novel. I thought I might as well draw some of the stuff I bang on about in the book!

Cheers

MTM

bthrowsnaill · 10-06-2010, 04:41 PM

I think that one reason that I write is to create myths that help me to relate to reality. And in doing so my secret hope is to communicate with the reader on a mythical level something that I'm too clumsy to articulate in person or in an essay.
Another (vain) reason that I write is to leave something that will linger in this world after I'm gone.

Steven Lake · 10-07-2010, 02:05 AM

Why do I write? Because it's FUN! It's a blast creating living worlds and characters, and doing a weird sort of grown up make believe.

bobavey · 10-12-2010, 01:44 PM

Why I write, is a question I often ask myself. So far, I haven't received a suitable answer.

Beneath a Buried House

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003SE7J6I

crich70 · 10-12-2010, 09:23 PM

I agree it is fun imagining what someone might do in situation x, and of course if you do it well enough you might even get paid for your bit of make believe not to mention the thrill of seeing your name in print on something that may catch someone's interest yrs after you are gone. In a way a story or book is like a shared dream between the author and reader. I have enjoyed many such experiences that others have written and would like to add to that supply myself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Lake

Why do I write? Because it's FUN! It's a blast creating living worlds and characters, and doing a weird sort of grown up make believe.

basilsands · 10-13-2010, 05:55 PM

The practical answer to why is to say that I at one time had a boring job with too much time on my hands and started writing to fill the time. The problem with that explanation though is that the stories actually just popped into my head on their own. I did not really try to make them happen, they just did. And then they kept coming, and are still coming.

It seems to be that it is not so much that I write as it is that I catch the story as it comes tumbling out of wherever it comes from. My muses are very fastidious and excessively talkative. I am just capturing the moment and putting in words.

Cliff Ball · 10-13-2010, 06:05 PM

I write because sometimes I have to, the idea just won't leave me alone until I write it down.

DavidRM · 10-13-2010, 09:37 PM

I think I write for the same reason I program (develop software):

I like to create.

I like to imagine something and then make it real. Writing stories and designing software are two ways that I can do that. In the latter, I imagine a program or game and then build it. In the former, I imagine characters and worlds and magics and I get to make those real too.

I like to create. I'm not sure how else to describe it.

-David

naivejenni · 10-14-2010, 08:50 AM

writing takes me some place else. if i can imagine myself around there, smelling the flowers, then I know i did it!

GlenBarrington · 10-15-2010, 08:42 PM

Because I can't sing Rock and Roll.

bobavey · 10-16-2010, 04:54 PM

It can't be the money.

Beneath a Buried House

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003SE7J6I

Steven Lyle Jordan · 10-20-2010, 01:23 PM

I write because I can't find the stories I want to read.

Roger Parkinson · 10-25-2010, 10:32 PM

It is the one way to go to the places I want to go to and meet the people I want to meet. But there is more than that. There's a satisfaction in exercising the discipline of crafting a story so that it actually works. I write software during the day, and there are some parallels. Software has to work right and, in a different way, so does a story.
But mostly I like reading my stories to my wife (can't read her the software, I tried :-)).

J.H. Farr · 10-26-2010, 11:35 AM

Wow, I had no idea there were so many replies here! I'm not getting email notices, for some reason.

I just read all of these and identify with some aspect of every one. What rings most true for me, however, are the comments about something that can't be denied...

10-16-2010, 04:54 PM	#27
bobavey Bob Avey Posts: 117 Karma: 501082 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Broken Arrow, OK Device: none	Why do you write? It can't be the money. Beneath a Buried House http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003SE7J6I

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10-06-2010, 04:41 PM	#18
bthrowsnaill Dreamer Posts: 112 Karma: 501282 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Philadelphia, PA Device: kindle	I think that one reason that I write is to create myths that help me to relate to reality. And in doing so my secret hope is to communicate with the reader on a mythical level something that I'm too clumsy to articulate in person or in an essay. Another (vain) reason that I write is to leave something that will linger in this world after I'm gone.

10-07-2010, 02:05 AM	#19
Steven Lake Sci-Fi Author Posts: 1,158 Karma: 14743509 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Michigan Device: PC (Calibre)	Why do I write? Because it's FUN! It's a blast creating living worlds and characters, and doing a weird sort of grown up make believe.

10-12-2010, 01:44 PM	#20
bobavey Bob Avey Posts: 117 Karma: 501082 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Broken Arrow, OK Device: none	Why I write, is a question I often ask myself. So far, I haven't received a suitable answer. Beneath a Buried House http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003SE7J6I

10-13-2010, 05:55 PM	#22
basilsands Arctic Warrior Posts: 85 Karma: 50000 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Anchorage, Alaska Device: kindle	The practical answer to why is to say that I at one time had a boring job with too much time on my hands and started writing to fill the time. The problem with that explanation though is that the stories actually just popped into my head on their own. I did not really try to make them happen, they just did. And then they kept coming, and are still coming. It seems to be that it is not so much that I write as it is that I catch the story as it comes tumbling out of wherever it comes from. My muses are very fastidious and excessively talkative. I am just capturing the moment and putting in words.

10-13-2010, 06:05 PM	#23
Cliff Ball Zealot Posts: 135 Karma: 525420 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Texas Device: none	I write because sometimes I have to, the idea just won't leave me alone until I write it down.

10-13-2010, 09:37 PM	#24
DavidRM Addict Posts: 203 Karma: 1007768 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma Device: Kindle	I think I write for the same reason I program (develop software): I like to create. I like to imagine something and then make it real. Writing stories and designing software are two ways that I can do that. In the latter, I imagine a program or game and then build it. In the former, I imagine characters and worlds and magics and I get to make those real too. I like to create. I'm not sure how else to describe it. -David

10-14-2010, 08:50 AM	#25
naivejenni Member Posts: 20 Karma: 16244 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Ipad	writing takes me some place else. if i can imagine myself around there, smelling the flowers, then I know i did it!

10-15-2010, 08:42 PM	#26
GlenBarrington Cheese Whiz Posts: 1,986 Karma: 11677147 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Springfield, Illinois Device: Kindle PW, Samsung Tab A 10.1(2019), Pixel 6a.	Because I can't sing Rock and Roll.

10-20-2010, 01:23 PM	#28
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	I write because I can't find the stories I want to read.

10-25-2010, 10:32 PM	#29
Roger Parkinson Zealot Posts: 143 Karma: 108036 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Device: Samsung Galaxy S	It is the one way to go to the places I want to go to and meet the people I want to meet. But there is more than that. There's a satisfaction in exercising the discipline of crafting a story so that it actually works. I write software during the day, and there are some parallels. Software has to work right and, in a different way, so does a story. But mostly I like reading my stories to my wife (can't read her the software, I tried :-)).

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10-26-2010, 11:35 AM	#30
J.H. Farr Member Posts: 15 Karma: 110 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Taos, New Mexico, U.S.A. Device: iPad	Wow, I had no idea there were so many replies here! I'm not getting email notices, for some reason. I just read all of these and identify with some aspect of every one. What rings most true for me, however, are the comments about something that can't be denied...