Why do you write?

[wrinkles]

I've seen this and similar threads on other forums, but I wanted to hear from other mainstream/contemporary/literary folks. I'll call us MCL for short. Not to be confused with the knee injury of the same name, however. I have another neat acronym for literary writers, specifically: WOLF (Writers of Literary Fiction). Makes us sound dangerous and attractive to the opposite sex.

Anyway, I want to be a WOLF, but I don't call myself one because it feels presumptuous. Others on AW have said they write because they must; that something inside them forces them to; that they would continue to write even if they somehow became convinced they would never be published.

I wouldn't. If I knew I would never be published, there would be no reason for me to continue to write. I write because I am presumptuous enough to believe, although I have no proof of it, that I have opinions, observations, and insights that readers will be interested in hearing.

I have an idea this may be a WOLF thing. For this desire to be heard goes beyond the desire to tell a whopping good yarn, or to be your own boss, or to do something creative every working day, or to possibly make some money. Although those are all good things.

So how about it? Is the belief that you have a message that is worth sharing a characteristic of literary writers? And would you continue to write if you knew that you would never have an audience to share it with?

[pdr]

I like that acronym!

I write because writing is the only way I have of communicating clearly with people. Do I have a message? Ah, that would be telling. Read my work and see!

[AprilBoo]

This is an interesting question - I've heard a lot of people say that about how they would write even if they thought they would never be published too. I might continue to write even if I wasn't trying to be published, but I certainly wouldn't put the effort into it that I do now. I can't imagine I would find it a fulfilling use of my time to write and then revise, and revise, and revise, and research, etc. just to stick it in a drawer and hope that my grandkids find it and think it's cute.

I do write because I want to communicate. And yeah, at the risk of sounding conceited, I think my perspective has something to offer readers. Again, I can't imagine that I would spend the time writing that I do if I didn't feel that way.

Can we get an mp3 of "Hungry Like the Wolf" for this thread?

[DeborahM]

Like the acronym! Interesting question, you've proposed.

I write because plot ideas come from many places and I write to relieve my brain of thoughts by putting them to paper. Once I get a story in my head, it will wake me to continue writing. I could have already pumped out 12 pages earlier in the day, but I'm up cranking it out until I can't go any further, then I'm wiped out until the next afternoon when I'm at it again!

And answering your question, I'm not published to date, but I'm still writing, in a sense to remain sane. :D

[maestrowork]

I have stories to tell. Lots of them. And I want people to read them.

[C.bronco]

This one is from Along Came a Spider, I think: It's "because you do what you are."

[JenNipps]

Hello, wrinkles.

I haven't ignored this posting, just have been AWOL for a bit.

I can't really say why I write other than I just like to. :) That sounds too pat and I realize that, so I apologize. I have a hard time articulating exactly why I write. It's something I have honestly always done as far back as 4th grade (9 years old), that I can remember anyway.

My mother is a storyteller. She keeps saying she wants to get them written down and published, but she hasn't done anything on that yet. She used to go to different elementary school classrooms for story hour. That's been a long time ago, though.

I guess I write because it's genetic. It's in my blood. :)

[gromhard]

I wrestle with this question a lot, why do I write?

I'd like to say(and probably have here and there) that it's in my bones or that I HAVE to write, or I don't feel right unless I'm writing...but those are all complexes I've given myself because I already WANTED to be a writer. Vis a vis, now if I don't feel I'm writing enough I'm really hard on myself.
But why did it all begin? Why do I continue and would I continue if I'd never get published?
I think I write because when growing up, I loved books, I loved what the authors could do and I wanted to emulate it in every way. As I've grown older my reading tastes have changed but I still feel the same way when I put down a really good book. I almost feel like I made a friend.
I want to create things in this world that do that for other people. I want to help lessen their burdens through communication and compassion much the same way as I've had my burdens lifted from time to time, book to book, throughout my life.
If I KNEW I wouldn't be published in my life time, but there was STILL a chance of publication after my death I'd continue to write and edit.
If I KNEW I would NEVER be read or published, living or dead...I think I'd quit writing...probably kill myself. So much of what I want to do with my life, who I want to be revolves around writing and sharing my work that without it, I'd be empty and curl into a ball and die.
I never really had a back up plan. I've always wanted to be a writer and I won't accept anything less without a fight to the death.

-Gromhard

[Sesselja]

I write because it's what I do.

My mum taught me the alphabet and how to write words, the school taught me how to string words together into sentences, and then I picked up a pen and wrote. I have written since, but I don't really know why. It's just what I do.

[smiley10000]

I enjoy writing and as I saw someone on another board has as their signature:
"I hear voices and I like it!"

They wake me in the middle of the night, they tap on my brain while I am doing dishes, they are everywhere I am. How do you ignore the Muse?

Am I a WOLF? I don't think so, it is a little to masculine an acronym for me ;)
I do hope one day to be a WOPEL (Writer Of Published and Enjoyable Literature)

:tongue 10000

[Haydee]

Okay this might be a weird reason. I have always had that compulsion to write, the desire to be published, and every other reason that people always cite.

But when you get down to it, I think the reason I write is to create a person I care about and love. I have always been a shy person and as a child, I had relationships with books, not people. Since then I have learned how to interact socially (tolerably, not proficiently), but I still prefer a well written character. I don't react so much to the plot of a book or the ideas of a book as to the people in books.

I fell in love with Mr. Rochester. Athos. Cyrano de Bergerac. Jupiter Jones (of the Three Investigators). When I look at my favorite books, I see beloved friends, not words or pages.

And when I write, I create people that touch me. I create relationships that, in real life, I long for. I am a people-watcher... I observe others, absorbing what they do and who they are. I dissect them mentally. And then I take the good things, the interesting things, and the heartbreaking things, and make them my own.

Saying that sounds kind of psychotic, like I have some sort of dissociative disorder. But if you met me you might just think I was a little distant. The truth is that I'm not... I really love people. It's just that the only way I can truly express myself is with a pen. Sometimes my friends, most of whom would probably consider me a not-very-close friend, are shocked by the force of my affection when I write them a card or a letter. I just don't know how to say those things out loud.

[CoCo]

I write because it's the only thing that will always make me happy no matter what. I write to distract and amuse myself from regular life. I write because it keeps me alive and gives me a purpose and meaning.

[steveg144]

Why do I write? I wrote like a demon in college, was good (people whose opinions I respected said so), got a few pieces published. For a bunch of reasons I don't want to waste the energy typing out, I walked away from it -- for thirty years. Then, about 3 years ago, something happened inside me. I woke up one day and it was as if, while I slept, someone bolted a wide-bore pipe to the back of my skull and out of this pipe was pouring a torrent of ideas, all of which I felt absolutely compelled to get down on paper. The torrent has not slackened as time's gone by; if anything, it's gotten worse. I call it "the opposite of 'writers block.'" My long-suffering wife calls it "your brain problem -- like the John Travolta character in 'Phenomenon.'" :D

[Jamesaritchie]

I love the acronyms, especially WOLF.

But I write for two reasons. 1. I'm paid good money to write. 2. I enjoy writing. Take away either reason and I'd be doing something else with my time.

[Angelinity]

Writing fiction and poetry is therapy for me. I write to purge. I'm less concerned with communicating than I am with expressing, or painting -- the picture i paint is meant for myself; if anyone reading it cares for it, great; if not, that's fine too -- although it's nice when other people resonate with what I write.

Nonfiction is different -- this, I write for an audience; communicating clearly is important here. I enjoy the research and planning that nonfiction writing requires. It helps keep me grounded between orgies of poetry and fiction.

The two are very different, and satisfy opposing incarnations of my 'schizophrenic' writing personality.

[greglondon]

I started because I had an idea for a really cool story, and no one else had written it.

One of the reasons I keep writing is because writing that story has forced me to learn a completely new skill that is writing itself. And I figure I'll keep writing for at least as long as I keep learning something about the skill of writing.

[Elodie-Caroline]

I write because; ever since I was a little kid, I'd always fantasized about life and how I would like it to be. I would spend hours at a time fantasizing, even as a fully fledged grown-up. But then a few years ago, I decided to put my fantasies to stories for other people to read; except that I don't write my stories with me in them, or as I fantasize how I would like my own life to be, just parts of it -- yes, the slushy parts lol. I have a very vivid imagination too.

Also, I am a big fan of a French film star, but a lot of his films aren't that good to be honest; I only like them because he's in them. Then suddenly I got inspiration one day for a story, one in which I'd like to see him star in, if I could, and I haven't looked back since. I can now see or hear the slightest thing that gives me even more inspiration these days.

The strange thing is; I had actually wanted to write since I was 12 years old, but it's only in the last couple of years that I've really sat down to get on and do it.

Ellie

[uina]

I WRITE BECAUSE I CAN.

plus it's fun.

[Pamster]

I write because I need to write the stories that come to me. Just like so many of you I have many stories to tell and years to keep on writing them hopefully. :)

[Penguin Queen]

I have stories to tell. Lots of them. And I want people to read them.

Yup, that.

Also, I refuse to believe that I would never be published. Even if it looked like it was unlikely in my own lifetime, I would stubbornly cling to the belief that one day, my genius (:D) would be seen and appreciated. Like Emily Dickinson, or Georg Büchner or something.

<------------- modest. Not.


WOLF (Writers of Literary Fiction). Makes us sound dangerous and attractive to the opposite sex.


I like the WOLF thing too. And I like to think I'm attractive to all sexes. http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/images/icons/icon6.gif

[blacbird]

Can't not.

In the absence of any likelihood anyone else will ever read any of it, that's the only reason I can provide.

caw

[Nicholas S.H.J.M Woodhouse]

Because I'm awful and I'd like to get better. I do anything I'm bad at again and again and again

[Lady Esther]

But when you get down to it, I think the reason I write is to create a person I care about and love. I have always been a shy person ...

And when I write, I create people that touch me. I create relationships that, in real life, I long for. I am a people-watcher... I observe others, absorbing what they do and who they are. I dissect them mentally. And then I take the good things, the interesting things, and the heartbreaking things, and make them my own.



I totally understand where you're coming from.

I write because; ever since I was a little kid, I'd always fantasized about life and how I would like it to be. I would spend hours at a time fantasizing, even as a fully fledged grown-up.

Me too. I fantasize about interesting people I see in everyday life. I give them stories (but only people I don't know). If I'm on the bus and see a 20-something woman dressed in formal office attire, I think about where she might work or the type of man she might date, thus creating my own story for her.

(This sounds like a strange thing to do, now that I've read my words)

[kborsden]

I write because if I don't, my head will pop.
I believe that i have something to say that might help people. I've been through and see so much shit that the words and stories of others are also lodged in my cranium.

[calamity]

I would write even if I knew I'd never get published. I enjoy it more than anything else -- that's why I do it. Not that it's easy, just the opposite. It's the most difficult thing I do and I love the challenge and the payoff--which for me is not material but what I learn in the process. Writing is how I make sense of the world.

[Luke flees the scene]

If I'm writing a song, it's to let out or express a certain emotion, whether it's anger or sadness, or happiness or love maybe. It's the same thing with poems.
With my stories, I just love creating and playing god.

[Enzo]

'Cause it's fun. I like making stories up, inventing things, imagining what a story would look like, what a movie version of that story would look like.

Another element is that each time I visit a book store, I see all these books, and I start to wonder: if so many people wrote books and had them published, why couldn't I succeed as well?
I get a kind of fever just seeing all those books, and I feel like I should be adding mine to the heap.

[Meerkat]

I honestly think that I would continue to write at the same velocity, even if I wasn't being paid to do it. Wait, wait....that is what I am doing. But each of my five now unpublished manuscripts has pulled me along at breakneck speed, because I cannot rest until I have the thing I have dreamed up down on paper. I imagine they are literary works, because each has a point that I wanted to get across that was not the telling or selling of a story. Others imagine they are not literary works, due to my impatience and lack of skill. It is also the case that I have not been playing the other half of the writer game adequately--marketing the darn things. I cannot bring myself to write a synopsis of any of the manuscripts, believing this would either give too much of the plot away, or else bore readers away. In my heart of hearts, I wish that the writer's job was complete upon writing "The End."

[Mae]

Analyze this: As a young child I did it so I could have a few happy endings in my world of horror. Many decades later, I do it to put a thrill of horror in my world of happiness.

hmm... that even makes me think!

[AllyWoof]

I write because I don't express myself well with my voice.

[Julian Black]

I write because stories keep taking up residence in my head, and once there they keep scratching around and making an unholy mess until I get them out. It's a lot like having raccoons in my attic.

I also write because I have a hard time finding books I really want to read. It's not that I can't find books that are enjoyable, but what I really want are books I can get lost in, fall in love with, and never want to leave. When I find them, I treasure them. I think about them all the time, and re-read them many times over. There aren't near enough of them, however. So I'm writing my own.

[Mr. Fix]

If I didn't write, my head would explode!

Somewhere, another universe is created, simply because someone thought it into existance. So I try to be as detailed and thorough as possible... those pictures of the two snouted pig with three eyes really bothers me!

[Flay]

Uina said, "Because I can". Flannery O'Connor said, "Because I'm good at it". Those seem to me excellent reasons.

[Anthony Ravenscroft]

I only write so that the little voices will leave me alone.

(Of course, one of them is always saying, You could get really stinkin' rich!)

[ORION]

I write what I want to read and I enjoy reading my own stories. I did this when I was eight years old and I'm still doing it now.
It is such a thrill for me to realize that soon other people will read what I write.
Would I still write if I wasn't about to be published?
Sure.
And I'll still be reading myself too...

[CaroGirl]

I write because I like it and I think I might be good at it, if I keep working to improve. I have no proof of this, in the form of publication, but I'm stubborn.

I like the way words sound together, the way they conjure images, thoughts, feelings, even smells. I love moving words and ideas around to create something new.

There's just nothing else I'd rather do.

[ClaudiaGray]

I enjoy it immensely. There are other reasons, but the enjoyment is the one that supercedes all the others. If nobody ever bought anything else I wrote ever again, I'd keep on writing fanfic or things for myself and having fun the whole time.

[valeenc]

This is something I've thought about for years.

When I was so ill I lost my ability to write. I literally didn't have enough oxygen to my brain in order that I might think. Writing sensible sentences, much less paragraphs or stories, was an impossibility.

Or I believed it was. I was so ill for so long I may have just given up.

But after I had red blood cells and oxygen again? I thought I would go insane from being unable to write. I'd destroyed my computer before leaving to come to NC and all of my files were stored online. I had my oldest friend check on my storage account once a week until I had a computer again. He's the one who saved my life by getting me here.

Anyhow, I did not have a computer for about six months. I can't write longhand due to arthritis, so I was immobilized creatively.

I wanted to die. I really wanted to die. I didn't give a flip about my cancer. Not being able to write was killing me far faster. There I was, finally able to think again and I had no means of writing.

So why do I write? Because life is not worth living without it. Without it I'd rather be dead.

[Joe270]

I write because I must get the story out of my head. It consumes me. The story invades my mind constantly until I get it out. Once it's down on paper, I can rest easy and get a decent nights sleep . . . until the next story comes.

[AllyWoof]

Writing is fun, but editing sure does suck!

[davids]

This is no joke-It beats the hell out of working for a living-and I live extraordinarily well thank-you and have a nice day!

[vanessawrites27]

I write, because I'm developing an unwritten screenplay in my head. I write, because a photograph (that I snapped) can express so much. I write, because I'm easily amused and observant and can find always find something constructive to do with these semi obnoxious traits of mine. I write, because someone needs something to read (that doesn't sound like they are reading the same thing over and over again. People need to be constantly inspired and motivated.) I write, because I want to get published someday. Because I want to promote holistic therapy and health via my words. But, what if I don't get published? Fine. As long as you do not say that I can't write anymore.

Since the day my third grade teacher pulled my mother aside and told her that I should become a writer, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. Telling me I should stop writing, no matter what? That is something that I can't guarantee.

[Uma]

As a kid I was a storyteller. I would record radio shows for my brother and write and direct plays and movies with all of the neighbour kids.

When I grew up it took me awhile to get a grip on what I wanted to tell. I wrote persuasively, taught language, but moved away from the story.

Finally, when faced with some people that I was in conflict with at work and in life. I started writing backstory to them. I wanted to create a story about them that would make it easier for me to understand. It was pure fiction, but it was real therapy.

I got some really interesting ideas and characters from these conflicts. Eventually the stories grew and I'm back to being a storyteller again.

[YoshimiKazu]

This probably sounds a bit snobbish, but when I was younger, I'd take the only money I had (my allowance) and spend it on books, only to find that even as a young teen I found most of them disgusting, stupid and simply unbearable to get through. And that was in the mainstream fiction categories. I got so sick of wasting what little money I had, only to end up saying over and over again to myself that "I could have done better than this!!" that finally I got the drive to try it. I'd been writing since around 14 or so, but I really started writing seriously around 17 or 18.

Today, I'm virtually a different person, so my reasons for continuing to write have somewhat changed. But the main reasons remain the same. I seemed to have the head for it (the imagination and what have you), and before I knew it, I loved doing it to the point of not really being interested in doing anything else.

Today I am 100% a writer. I'm one of those "couldn't/wouldn't stop even if I'd never get published" people. It's my passion, and I couldn't remain sane without it.

What do I hope to accomplish by my writing? Well, I'd like to publish something that even people who still have morals can stand to read without loosing their lunch. That's on the first place. On the second, I'm interested in writing as an art form, not as a "make-money form". This means I think there are certain things this art should be, and if I can't live up to them, I would say I don't belong in this field. It's a great art and can do great things. While my first books will probably not be able to get anywhere near what I know and feel this art can and should be, it's my goal... to create something that IS art, and not just action and thrills spewed to no purpose on the page. Something that gives readers something they can think about, if they can still think after years of that drivel.

So in short, I'm a passionate artist who cares about putting something of worth out there that won't be a waste of my readers' money. Because of such garbage, I basically stopped reading anything that wasn't a classic or non-fiction. I think it's sad that there's that much out there to turn people off of reading, that it would cause someone to be so disgusted they'd never want to read again (or at least a whole major chunk of what's out there). So I hope to be one of the people who write something that makes people want to keep reading rather than stop.

I'm not trying to be a jerk. I just want more than an easy dollar and cheap recognition. In fact, I don't want to be known. I'd like to be as anonymous as possible. But I would like to give the world something in the spirit of this art's greatness. Even if it will never be called great. If I can't publish my work, I'd still keep writing, though. I love it too much to stop now. I want to see at least whether I can do something I believe lives up to that goal, even if other people don't appreciate it for it's content or whatever.

Whether or not I succeed... I figure that's in the hands of the One who gave me the gift. ;)

[sgtmrb03]

I write because I used to be a biology major, and got more compliments on my "writing skill" than on my knowledge of biology. Then my English 1A prof took me aside on the last day of class. She said I could be a professional writer, and should consider changing my major. Not long before this, I was stationed in the Middle East. My mother sent me a bunch of paperbacks. I read them. They were entertaining, but in the back of my mind, I thought I could do better. I don't know if it was ignorance, bravado, or what. But when I look back on my life, I realize writing is the only thing I'm marginally good at. Also, like many of you, I get that story in my head that just needs to be told. If I don't put it down on paper, I get a headache and can't sleep. So I write it down. Oh, and I won $5 in a writing contest when I was in 5th grade. I guess the promise of money drew me in long ago :-)

[RMS]

sgtmrb03
LOL I won a dozen roses for my Mom from writing a Mother's day essay at about that same age. I was hooked!

[airforceauthor]

my English 1A prof took me aside on the last day of class. She said I could be a professional writer, and should consider changing my major.

thats awesome...i was an engineering major and i heard the same thing from the head of the humanities dept at my univ. i didnt change my major, but i still ended up writing a whole lot.

and just to add my $0.02, i would write whether I got published or not. that is not to say that i would stop trying ot get published. everything i wrote i would send out till it got uniformly rejected across the board, then i would start writing again and keep that old mss in the hope that it'd become an anecdote later when I'm a real author ;) for me, writing is both my way to write out my fantasies and to express frustration/anger/joy with things i see around me.

I wouldnt call myself a WOLF - not yet - but some day down the line it would be nice :)

[Ageless Stranger]

Because, much like the fate of Wormtail, my hands will strangle me should I try.

[J.Ziekemijjer]

Good question. I've never thought of it before. I enjoy writing... so lets go with that.

[blacbird]

I only write so that the little voices will leave me alone.

(Of course, one of them is always saying, You could get really stinkin' rich!)

Yeah, them voices talk to me, too. Except they say, You suck, you dumschidt!

caw

[Harvest]

I write so readers can tell me, "I laughed, I cried, I loved, I hated. I could not walk away from your words unmoved."

And I write for myself. It's a way for me to be/do more. I utilize my talents, learn something new every day, and challenge myself. I have never not written, but now I write for personal satisfaction.

[Dragonfly45]

[quote=Julian Black;1207907]I write because stories keep taking up residence in my head, and once there they keep scratching around and making an unholy mess until I get them out. It's a lot like having raccoons in my attic. quote]

I really like this description! It's very much the same for me--stories form somewhere up there and they won't shut up until I write them down!

[KikiteNeko]

I was scared of the dark, so when I was little, six or seven, I made up stories in my head to get myself to sleep (I still do this every single night), and one day I started writing them down. Then, suddenly, I began having strong opinions on things I was reading--whether or not I liked the sentence structure and if it was a style I'd like for myself. I went through a huge pretentious thing in high school, sure my writing was the work of a teenage prodigy. And then once I hit college I was severely humbled. Severely. It hurt, but I'm glad I don't walk around thinking I'm the greatest author of my time anymore. It's that fear of never becoming published that encourages me to reach out for help and to become better and to pay that much more attention to what I'm writing. I try to write the types of quiet, introverted stories I like to read, so I do think there are people out there who would enjoy my stories, and even more people who find them pointless.

The truth is, if every literary writer STOPPED WRITING from now until the end of time, there are so many books out there that the world would not know what it was missing, and thus would not care. Once you read a book, that's when you're glad you've found it. Unless it sucked...

Shorter answer: I have no idea why I write, but I think it's something my mind was pre-destined to discover, whether or not I had been scared of the dark. Even if I'm never published, there's nothing I can do about my inability to stay in reality for more than brief and undesirable intervals. ^_~

[Neon]

Whether i'm any good or not is debateable, all i know is that when i write, it takes me away from the less than exciting world that i live in.
When i'm writing it's as if i'm living in my own imagination and i enjoy that.

[Cranky]

I write because there's an itch I can only scratch by writing. It makes me feel restless and grumpy if I'm not writing, even if what comes out isn't all that good.

So, yeah. I write because it makes me feel good to do it. Sorta like sex. Sometimes risky, often messy, and when it doesn't go well- frustrating. But when it does...oh boy. Nothing quite like it. Oh...and practice makes perfect with both, I think.

[Use Her Name]

I write because I am a generalist, I am not really good at anything specific (except writing). It would take me several lifetimes to actually live as the characters I write about. I get to live and create worlds for other people to temporarily duck into in 9 months to a year (the time I take to write a novel when I am not researching). The situations and people I write about are usually also in jeopardy and experiencing uncomfortable things that I would not want to live through. I really would not want to experience being tied up in an underground sewer, but I would write about it. Not only can I live as many different people in various situations, but so can my reader. (Well, publishing is a goal) It is a win-win situation.

[Trish]

I write because I'm a compulsive talker, and people tell me to shut-up and throw things at me. Also I love to write it gives my tongue a rest and makes my brain work.

I have an annoying little monster in my head named, Molly. She won't leave me alone and takes over my entire life. My family are seriously beginning to think that I've gone completely mad. She is now trying to take over my whole personality. Heheh LOL. (I've got news for them! She's here to stay.)

[Liam Jackson]

Boredom. That led to an introspective "what if" session. The "what if" session morphed into a manuscript. And another, and another, and another...

[maycee_trent]

There are different reasons why people write, depending on the purpose. Some write in order to express their feelings while others write because it's their passion. Their day would not be complete if they didn't write anything.
For me the main reason why people write is to create their own character and name to be known world

[Buddikins]

Because writing is better than thinking about the hollow emptiness of my life..
Nah, I dunno. I guess to get some of the mess out of my head. I find it easier to think if people arent constantly walking around in there talking about some new plot point.

[soleary]

It's part of the education program I'm in at prison. If I write one more essay, I'll get my GED.

KIDDING.

I write because I am, quite literally. I've done it since I can remember, and it comes completely organically to me. I couldn't stop for long even if I wanted to.

[Rena Andra]

My husband said once that writers of fiction aren't writing fiction. He said perhaps it is only a future, that our DNA is aware of, prompting us to place fingers on keys until the truth is out there! Well, whether or not my DNA is pushing me, it should have its ass on the pc seeking publishers too. Or am I asking DNA to do too much? Hmm. Now I have to write this shiit out a bit.
RA

I call dibs on this one. lol

[ynoirb]

I write because I have a MASSIVE god complex :D

I also write because I like making people laugh and its as close to stand up comedy as I'm ever gonna get.

[johnstmoonpie]

I write because writing is a part of who I am.

I cannot convey my thoughts unless they are written, and, if I am to write them, I see no reason why I should leave my thoughts as just thoughts. It is far too easy to do that. I strive to do things the hard way, so I take my thoughts and attempt to turn them into a work of fiction.

[ABekah]

My writing started with a love of reading. As an only child, I spent a lot of time alone and reading was my constant companion. As an adult, I still keep a book with me most of the time; one never knows when they will be stuck in the doctor's office or somewhere having to wait a while.

In social settings, I am a very quiet person. I have this fear of interupting someone else while they are talking, and being thought of as rude. The internet has allowed me to express my opinions in a way I never could otherwise.

Similarly, writing is an outlet for all of the things I've experienced in life. Although much of what I write is fiction, I gather my experiences and pull down what I need from time to time in a story. I enjoy putting a good story together.

A rather lofty goal I have is to one day make a decent part time income from my writing. We move quite a bit, and a writing career, even a modest one, keeps me from having 24 jobs on a resume.

So, those are just some of the many reasons that I write.

[roncouch]

I write to please myself and my audience.

[Nicholas T]

What I like about the acronym in the original post (WOLFs) is how it goes out of its way to draw attention to its subversion of the conventional plural, "wolves". Now that's literary.

We all have our answers to "Why do you write?" as diverse as the answers offered by writers who work in any genre or non-genre. But maybe it's worthwhile to narrow that down further: if you identify your work as being of a "literary" bent - if you like the idea of being a WOLF, even if you are too modest to call yourself that openly - "Why do you write literary fiction?"

What motivates us to write for the kind of audiences that read the nebulous thing called literary fiction (whatever it is)?

Maybe, like all writers, one does it because one believes that this kind of story is worth reading.

[wrinkles]

Actually, I believe that Writers of Literary Fiction are born, not made. I'm a believer in nature over nurture. When a WOLF sits down to write, literary fiction comes out. Not genre, not commercial, not mainstream, not anything else. Literary. It isn't a conscious decision. No more than sexual orientation is a decision. You are, or you aren't.

[LaurieD]

Its a matter of have to.

I have to write.

Like breathing.

Life is so much easier that way...

[Inkyhoof]

Because writing is a way to vent my creativity.

Because I like playing around with words.

Because I want to touch people's minds, hearts, and this is the only way I know how to do it.

Because it feels right, it's natural. It's me.

Because I love that warm, stisfied feeling I get every time I write something other people like - or even just something I write for me, and I'm happy with.

[Rhonda Morrow L.]

I identify with the "WOLF," acronyn! I began to write to vent. It is my belief that by writing whatever disturbs me on to paper or in my journal, I release myself and close the book on it when I'm ready. Writing has served as a major form of "healing" for me and I have been able to pass this information on to others, which helped them. I have started writing fiction, but writing non-fiction has restored my spirit and enabled me to help others restore their spirits. Thanks for allowing me to share!

[indiriverflow]

Strictly speaking, I'm not in either category, but I find the question easier to answer than the much more pertinent question of what will happen next in the scene I'm working on.

My original purpose...to attract a bookworm for a spouse :: goal met :)

Current purpose: justify her faith in my ability. She'll probably keep me writing for the rest of my life.

And, oh, how I love when the words come together. But I don't know if I could keep on if I were the only one to love it.

Publication will impress her. Plus, I won't have to go back to freelancing.

[Koobie]

I write because I suck at telling people stories - gotta write them down first. :)

[mayamolly]

I write because I love books, get utterly lost in characters, and I'm fascinated by the process of dissecting that magic and building that kind of world for others. I never thought I was a fiction writer until just last year, but now I'm realizing that was because I didn't really know what I was doing and was more confident in my ability to describe than to invent... now I'm loving the terrifying power of building a story from scratch that feels real. I think writing is fun but also a great deal of hard work-- yet I truly believe that if I keep working at this, I can become good enough to become a WOPEL-- Writer of Published and Enjoyable Literature (I love that acronym!)

[Adelaide]

mayamolly, as an aspiring writer of great literature, how very fitting that you live in a place named after a writer of great literature.

I write because I feel like I have to. I'm dying to have published work, but even if I knew I could never be published I would still do it. For me, it's not even a hobby or anything. It's just what I do. There's another aspect that Flannery O'Connor summed up well: "I write to discover what I know."

[mister_lister]

Reading and writing are my favorite forms of entertainment. I love getting lost in a story. Additionally, I find I do my best thinking while I write. By far, my strongest form of communication is with the written word. I really like drilling down a topic in an essay or sculpting a scene in a story. Most of my heroes when I grew up where story tellers of some form or another. I guess I am just imitating my heroes.

[penny manning]

I write because I have a story to tell. I want to make a statement about a social issue (I have a few) that either interests or apalls me. I write because I think I'm good at it (or at least I thought I did until I received my first critique at AW :eek:).

:)

I could easily walk away from writing. For a while. My poor abandoned manuscript and half developed ideas would call out to me. :crazy: I'd think of all the time and money (in books, paper and ink) I have invested, And how dare I waste all that effort. :e2violin: and talent. Last but not....If I don't finish this book, I'll always wonder if I could have written a bestseller. :e2writer: