Just a simple little question...

[Christopher Lee]

What drives you? I'm interested to know what drives each of you to write? A goal to make a lot of money? A goal to write a book that will be read as a classic one hundred years from now? Whatever it may be, I'm curious to know what drives other people to write. Or what inspires you, if you prefer that word?

Do you find that you can not get through your day without putting pen to paper, or finger to keys? Whatever it may be, I'm very curious.

 

[Tecdavid]

Well, myself, I've always enjoyed the urge to create. Although my work hasn't been read by many people at all, I still feel a sense of satisfaction for having written it. The creativity itself is a pleasure, and writing it down coherently - skilfully - is a challenge.
If I could write to earn a salary, I'd jump at the chance. I think we all enjoy the thought of doing what we love to earn a living, and, as I'm sure is the case for many of us, I'll just need to wait and see whether that’s a possibility.

 

[Drakai]

Passion. I rarely write but I absolutely love to create plots and settings in my mind.

 

[bluenimbus]

i write for the thrill.
don't know if this counts, but, i was also born living most of my time in daydreams, now i am consumed with my imagination which has grown unchecked, the only way to cope is to write it all down before i forget, or drown, gahhh!

 

[Mouse]

Fancy this was asked quite recently. I said I just want to make people laugh, cry, or sit back and say 'that was bloody good.'

 

[Christopher Lee]

Oh, I didn't catch it last it was asked apparently. Great reasons, guys, keep em coming. I myself just like making crap up. I like taking things I see on my drive to work and turning it into some mish-mash horror story, or some over the top crime spree.

If I can make my beta reader (usually mom or girlfriend) cry, laugh, or give me a hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-reader-scorned gaze, I'm a happy guy.

 

[Mouse]

Also, making crap up is good.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Well, money would be lovely. Then I could do things like buy books and games without worrying about cost.

However, my main motivation is that I really enjoy writing, and I get a kick out of people enjoying reading what I've written.

 

[Christopher Lee]

Also, making crap up is good.

Of course, the trick we face is making crap up while telling the truth.

 

[HoopyFrood]

I need to put words on a page (or a blank doc.) I may have a job coming up soon that involves writing loads of product descriptions for online items. Awesome! Because I just love writing.

I almost exclusively write for myself. I'm not very good at editing because it's just the act of writing that's the bit I want, after that I don't much care.

Still, I am trying to get better at this, if I want to be serious about scriptwriting. And I have a few more goals in mind now, with this. Mainly, write films that include characters that aren't just straight, white men

 

[Christopher Lee]

Still, I am trying to get better at this, if I want to be serious about scriptwriting. And I have a few more goals in mind now, with this. Mainly, write films that include characters that aren't just straight, white men

I like that goal. I look forward to seeing a little diversity on the big screen when your scripts begin selling.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I can't not anymore. Simples. My mind doesn't know what to do if it isn't writing, and I hate the rare day I do nothing. I aspire to be published and am prepared to do the graft to get there. That's it, really.

 

[bluenimbus]

plant-lit should be a new genre, just like knit-lit

 

[Glitch]

I enjoy coming up with imaginative ideas and filling them with interesting characters. All the better if anyone actually enjoys reading it!

Now I'm concentrating on completing one story through to the end, I'm enjoying reading it as I write. I open up a blank word doc with no idea what's going to happen in this new chapter. Then an hour later and I have a thousand words and something unexpected happened.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

A story and characters that live in my imagination so vividly that I need to write about them.

Deadlines and all sorts of other concerns may figure in at different times, but always the driving motivation is the desire to get a particular story down in writing, written the best way that I know how.

 

[Greenwoody]

I write for escapism & get completely immersed in it in the way that you get with a good film or book, only new good films & books are hard to come by/ they're over too soon.

Get a certain buzz out of writing, occasionally get a writing high when in the flow & it's going well, you don't notice time passing.

Though making lots of money out of it would be ideal.

 

[Glisterspeck]

Imagining fantastic worlds, filling them full of characters, and sending them on adventures was how I survived childhood. My grandma used to worry about my mental health because I would pace in circles behind the garage, lost in my imagination, for hours upon hours. (Ended up killing all the grass.) eventually, sometime during high school, I realized people wouldn't think I was weird if I did the same thing, but in a straight line, so I'd just go on super long walks. This is still how I formulate most of my ideas. After college, I realized it'd be much more productive if I, you know, wrote some of the stuff rumbling around in my head down. So that's why I write, I suppose. To get my imaginary worlds out of my head.

 

[Christopher Lee]

I know what you mean, Greenwoody. That rush you get when you pry your eyes from the screen, see that three hours have passed, and then realize, "I've got like 6 more pages worth," and you fall back into the throes of your fantasy world.

 

[BetaWolf]

I really think of it as therapeutic, as cheesy as that sounds. Writing helps me get through issues that I can't deal with in other ways. Plus I have long commutes on the bus since I started a job on the other side of the city. So I'm the guy with a notepad and pen scribbling away and looking at other people for inspiration. Yeah, my secondary character definitely looks like that bus driver with the dreadlocks and warm smile.

But a few sold stories would help, too. Don't get me wrong.

 

[Montero]

The exploration - it occurred to me this morning.

Exploring ideas, looking at scenes, seeing which way they could go.

That's not how why I started writing (my first attempt was a lot of years ago, purely for myself, writing a sequel to a book I'd really liked which didn't have a sequel) but it is why I continue writing.

I do have a goal of getting published too.