General Writing Discussion Thread | Current Topic: NaNoWriMo

RE: The Lounge

A question for you all: Why do you write?

Escapism? Teaching? A simple drive to create? I'm curious to know what motivates people. As for myself, I use writing as a tool to probe the morals and ideologies of the real world. The fantasy realms I find myself creating are skewed versions of the life I live.

One of these days I'll contribute something to the Writing Corner that isn't absolutely ridiculous...!
 
RE: The Lounge

bacon-I write so that one day I can be super famous on the forums and influence a bunch of people to do things for me.

I write because when I was little my mom would write a lot and I was all like "Imma' be writin' like momma' when I grown up!"

So...I did.
 
RE: The Lounge

I write because it derives from the necessity to create, in addition to balancing my thoughts.

I have hundreds of ideas swirling in my brain – some are soft, and are gently extinguished; some are very powerful, and they cannot be shaken. A dangerously strong concept could quite literally drive me over the brink of insanity. I cannot sleep, because this thing refuses to leave me alone. So, I write it out in whatever method possible – a simple note, a brief outline...sometimes, an entire chapter. Unfortunately, I do not possess the motivation to continue many of these 'endeavours' (for lack of a better word).

An underlying answer...I write to never give up on myself, so I may never relive my younger days where many things were under-appreciated...misunderstood...neglected....forgotten...shoved aside...I want to keep going and have an optimistic outlook on writing :)
 
RE: The Lounge

I write because one of my few talents is the ability to come up with stories almost instantly. Might as well put that ability to use.
 
RE: The Lounge

I write because my mind is a beautiful mix of ideas, squirming to be released. Wow, this may sound corny, but all of my sucessful works are a masterpiece, an accomplishment to me. Something to be proud of. I want my creative ideas to be released, even if they were inspired by a game, or book. They may not all be shown, but at least they were written down.
In simple words, I enjoy being able to sit down in front of a computer, or piece of paper, and just go. I love to write because I can pour my feelings into whatever piece of paper or computer screen, without anyone knowing. It's like my own little saga.
That's my corny reason there.
 
RE: The Lounge

I'm just one to do it. My mind comes up with two to three minor ideas every month, but only two have made it up; NB and PNANF. It's one of my natural talents now (I hated writing up until the summer of 4th-5th), so I do whatever I can to make it realization. I'm actually planning to be a writer...

I don't have a life, do I? ~AoH
 
RE: The Lounge

My motivation is simple...to make up for my otherwise poor artistic abilities. In all honesty, I have almost no talent for drawing or poetry, but with stories I can make up for the first with heavy amounts of description and the latter by just being creative. Unlike actual poetry, storywriting just requires a good sense of how to portray things so that they seem a lot more intimate than they really are and, unlike contemporary art, I don't have to create a visual product as opposed to text. I know, that sounds blunt coming from me, but that's how I always thought of things.
 
RE: The Lounge

bacon said:
A question for you all: Why do you write?

Escapism? Teaching? A simple drive to create? I'm curious to know what motivates people. As for myself, I use writing as a tool to probe the morals and ideologies of the real world. The fantasy realms I find myself creating are skewed versions of the life I live.

One of these days I'll contribute something to the Writing Corner that isn't absolutely ridiculous...!
Click to expand...
Because one day randomly, I will end up brainstorming an idea. Once a particularly awesome idea ends up popping into my head, I will try and fuel the fire for that idea as much as possible, until I can formulate it into a basic fanfic plot. Then when that plot becomes more elaborate, I put my fingers to the keyboard and start writing it all out.

Giving it life is something I have to continually do. If I get lax, or for whatever reason can't think up a worthwhile thought for the fanfic idea, I succumb to writer's block and I don't end up working on it for weeks or even months on end...sometimes never again. One such idea I had was almost 80 pages long, only half-done in the overall scheme, and was described as "the anime if I had wrote it".
I lost the ideas and inspiration to continue that almost 3 years ago. I have not continued writing it since.

In summation: writer's block is my biggest weakness.
 
RE: The Lounge

There are actually three reasons why I write.

The first is relatively simple--to get my mind off of other things. When I feel depressed by something or just bad in general, I can distract myself by just continuing one of my ideas and just placing myself in whatever intricate world I've created, where all seems well to me (even if it is not within the writing).

The second is a bit of a mix of the reasons why DNA and AnimeUSA write. Ideas occur to me several times in random places, and I like to expand on them. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work... but I do like to see where they go.

And this might sound weird, but the third reason I write is to 'play God.' Now, I don't mean to offend anyone by this, I simply mean I enjoy messing with what I've created, and seeing how my characters react, still controlled in my hands but also by what I've written about them before.

Writing is a magnificent thing to do, and I'm glad I have it to do these things. ^-^
 
RE: The Lounge

@42 chocolate - Your third reason isn't that strange. I think many authors like to manipulate the diminutive universe they have created, because they are in complete control of it. You decide what happens to Harold Crick your characters...you choose their destiny. Who wouldn't like being a god or goddess, even figuratively? Dance, puppets...dance! :D
 
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You decide what happens to Harold Crick your characters...you choose their destiny.
Click to expand...
omg stranger than fiction <<<333333333
 
RE: The Lounge

^That's where I recognized that name from...
I have to agree with controlling your own little universe.
 
RE: The Lounge

Lol... That was a movie, right? In any case, I actually didn't watch it much for the reason it was about a guy whose life was controlled by a novelist.

Personally, I never thought of things as me controlling my own little universe as opposed to just playing a game of chess. All the same idea, though, right? I'm not completely sure how else to state it differently...
 
RE: The Lounge

If you do get a spare moment or two, I recommend that you watch it. It isn't as bad of a movie as you think it is.
In fact, after you watch it, I doubt that you will end up not liking it. Just find some spare time if you can.
 
RE: The Lounge

Well, if it has Will Ferril(know idea if I spelled that right or not...) then it's bound to be good. I'll see it if it pops up on TV or something...

Anyways, do you guys have any favorite authors you try to learn from? I try to incorparate hubris into some of my stories. I had to read some of Maximum Ride books to get that down for a while...
 
RE: The Lounge

@DNA: Not a lot of Will Ferrill's movies interest me, but I will look into seeing if I can rent this movie some time.

@aggiegwyn: Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons influenced Feral Twilight's prologue slightly, but otherwise I try not to emulate other writers' works too much...
 
RE: The Lounge

aggiegwyn said:
Do you guys have any favorite authors you try to learn from?
Click to expand...

Raymond E. Feist is a fantasy author that has subtly influenced my writing. I greatly admire his extensive world creation and congregation of atlases; this has spurred my artistic side to sketch out a rough map of the world in which my story occurs, complete with city names and history. (This is mainly reserved for my fantasy realms, though). Feist has an aptitude for creating unique characters with very intriguing pasts; his character development is quite impressive. I have much to learn about this, so it is a continual learning process.

A smaller influence would be K.A. Applegate. I haven't read her writing in years, though her style taught me never to shy away from using unconventional symbols for dialogue (chuckles). Likewise, her creature concepts inspired and encouraged me to incorporate unique races and animals in my own writing.
 
RE: The Lounge

I don't actually try to incorporate author's styles into my story, but after I read a good book, I find myself putting some of their methods in unconsciously. After I read Catch-22, for example, I found myself jumping around in time within what I wrote (with no explanation), as Joseph Heller does in that book.
 
RE: The Lounge

Ugh, thinking of a story plot/topic is so hard without taking a plot from something else that you really like! If anyone has any tips on how to make this easier let me know! I've got the tallent, the wits, and my own style, and all I need is a good topic that doesn't relate to closely to something that I really like!
 
RE: The Lounge

First off, since I haven't seen you here until now, hi and welcome to the Writer's Corner.

Secondly, it's not hard at all to really come up with something all your own, as opposed to just not being tempted to just spoof something from somewhere else, Flygondrb. Inspiration itself happens on the fly, but good influences and enlightenment for your ideas can stem from direct sources. But, rather than denying yourself, why not start with something based on what you like a lot and then trying to mold it slightly away from the direct source? Sorry if that's not much help right now, but there's only so much I can say without actually knowing what you like (which never really said anything about to begin with).
 
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