Why do we write?

[Caveat Lector]

Have you ever stopped to wonder just why you do what you do? Why do we write about anything? Or draw? Or compose music? Or program? What is it specifically that draws us to this again and again?

I don't know...I thought about it, and the way I see it, we do it because it's how we express ideas about how we see the world around us, and how we also see other fiction around us. It helps broaden our minds and explore "what if's" again and again (what if magic was real? What if people were mystery magnets who stumbled across a mystery wherever we go? What would happen if someone was driven mad by love?)--perhaps it might even make us step outside our comfort zone. It allows us to let our emotions go.

Do we even need any specific reason? Can it ever be a whole amalgation of reasons? Maybe sometimes, we just do what we do for fun. Because we enjoy it. Because certain genres or styles just naturally appeal to us and we just want to write for those simply because we like them.

[firecat]

i write for history, our ancestors have done many things that help almost clear the past and so i want to do the same thing. if there were no writers they were no history, thats why i want to make history even if people think its common everyday life our future grandkids will see it has knowledge. just like that old saying knowledge is power.

[RotGtIE]

Because telephone doesn't work.

[Shinoki]

Because our memories are sufficient? I guess it's because our brains don't have the ability to easily store everything and produce everything for others to see--telepathy...
If you have a story and you try to tell someone, it's probably harder to make a good explanation that's not a boring summary than it is to well, write out an epic (even though good writing is still difficult to make). This is just my opinion.

[Coldreaver]

I can only speak for myself and I am more of a special case, I guess. I have no other way to express myself. I lack words when I try to talk and am not a person which is any good in socializing. Therefore I draw or write some stuff (I am not that good in it I think, unfortunately) in order to get those emotions and thoughts out of me. I build worlds in my mind and let 'em collide. I have to get them out of my head and use them somehow, otherwise I get depressed because I think that this fantasy of mine deserves to reach the outside. The worlds, the characters. Everything. They were important in my past as some sort of shelter and still are important today. My raison d' être? Probably.


So people are different. Their reasons are different. Therefore there can't be an easy answer. And I think that's good.

[SinSisters]

Oh, man. I dunno if it's the writing itself, for me, or the creating stories. I loved playing with Barbie dolls and giving them stories. (groovy girls and polly pockets sucked in comparison; polly pockets were too small and I wasn't sure if Groovy Girls were flat adults or old faced makeuped 10 year olds). Eventually... I hit a point where I needed to write. Writing is my passion. If there's only one thing I could do for 24 hours, every day (besides sleeping/eating—and assuming that bodily functions are taken care of) it'd be writing. Part of this was when I was going through middle school (ah, yes, the blessed angsty tween stages) I wrote in my diary a lot. I wrote because it was the best way I could vent.
Now, I have stories filling up inside of me, and if I don't write them down, if I don't make these characters real, it's like I'm going to burst. Maybe I won't be an author when I'm older, but I'm never going to stop writing, you know?

-Nat

[Caveat Lector]

I loved playing with Barbie dolls and giving them stories

OMG ME TOO ME TOO!!! Though I also made up stories with Polly Pockets and Groovy Girls and MyScene dolls and Bratz, etc....I remember I never gave each MyScene doll the exact same name as the one they were supposed to have. Nolee took on many, many names (I still love that name, but I'm kind of afraid it would make people immediately think of MyScene, plus Nolee was my favourite for reasons). One year, I re-enacted the story of Passover with Polly Pockets and the various Polly Pocket houses and malls. It was EPIC. At the very least, I'm certain it was better than Ridley Scott's new Exodus movie. (Oh man, that does NOT look like it's going to be a good movie...but back on topic)

[SundownKid]

First, I like it because it gives me some satisfaction to make something I would enjoy. So, if someone like me comes along, looking for a game like mine, they would have my game rather than coming up with nothing. It also gives me satisfaction if someone enjoys it, period.

It also makes life more meaningful... outside of my creative endeavors, I have not really accomplished anything of note besides get through school after school in pursuit of some distant "stable job", but making games or other creative stuff gives me something smaller to strive for when the recession keeps moving the goalpost.

[thebackup]

I guess one reason is to escape the harsh realities of life. Plus having the satisfaction of creating your own world, populating it with your own characters, and sharing it with others.

[171]

I'm on the same boat with people who think that creating your own world is enjoyable.

[Vatina]

Because writing is awesum.

In general I have always loved the whole 'creation' thing, making worlds and lives and stories. Writing is a great way to do all this.

[SimonLayton]

I guess one reason is to escape the harsh realities of life.

Haha, I write stories that are harsher than real life (at least the reality I'm experiencing). I like to throw every single problem imaginable at the main character, but if they manage to live through them, then I can do the same with my own problems, too.

One of the reasons I write is because I couldn't find the stories I want to read. So I write those stories mostly for myself, and whenever I finish a story, I can give myself a pat on the back, because hey, I started and finished something that I can be proud of. I also like to explore what-if's on a personal level.

[SinSisters]

I loved playing with Barbie dolls and giving them stories

OMG ME TOO ME TOO!!! Though I also made up stories with Polly Pockets and Groovy Girls and MyScene dolls and Bratz, etc....I remember I never gave each MyScene doll the exact same name as the one they were supposed to have. Nolee took on many, many names (I still love that name, but I'm kind of afraid it would make people immediately think of MyScene, plus Nolee was my favourite for reasons). One year, I re-enacted the story of Passover with Polly Pockets and the various Polly Pocket houses and malls. It was EPIC. At the very least, I'm certain it was better than Ridley Scott's new Exodus movie. (Oh man, that does NOT look like it's going to be a good movie...but back on topic)

Oddly enough, Lego also worked for me. I enjoyed the Polly Pocket sets, but I could never get into their stories at much. I think that Barbies were the right size for me, and you could turn the heads and stuff. As for Lego... lol, I'm pretty sure that the majority of that spurned from watching stop-action short Lego films.

Also, reading. I read so much when I was little. I loved the stories that others created, and I wanted to do the same. If one day, my writing inspires someone else to write... well, that would be amazing.

-Nat

[TrickWithAKnife]

I'm a trespasser in this creative world.

I write because it is a requirement of visual novels, and visual novels are the most suitable form of media for my goals.

[tejina]

I've been writing since the tender age of seven, when an author from my hometown came in to read us a book she had written.

I was like, "holy crap, PEOPLE write these? Like, NORMAL people?"

I was flabbergasted and instantaneously intrigued.

Of course when I was younger, a lot of it was from whatever had my interest at the time (a LOT of Pokemon-themed stories )

Once my teachers realized how wordy I could be, they actually had to start putting a LIMIT on the number of pages we could have...because if left alone, my stories would go on, and on, and on...

I like to think part of it's because I have an amazingly active imagination, but as I've grown older I've realized that I can-and enjoy-writing anything and everything. Any style, any genre. I just love to write, even if it's just a random blurb.

Heck, I've started telling my friends/coworkers "give me a sentence and I'll make something out of it".

I wrote a 17-page story from a single sentence

If I'm at work, it gives me an added incentive (when I'm NOT working, of course >.>) to get it done before my shift ends.

So yeah...I like writing.

Though I use a computer for convenience, I LOVE putting pen to paper.

Good feeling, it is.