What Motivates You to Write?

[terryweide]

In the thread titled How to Write a Book, Culhwch remarked,

"...I sorta fall into your category of 'not writing without a coach'. It's not that I've lost interest, it's more that I am currently lacking the drive to focus day-in, day-out on one piece of work. At uni I had deadlines, and now that I'm on my own timetable I've dropped off. I am hoping that I'm just in a bit of slump and the natural desire will come back. If not, I'll have to beat myself back into shape - finding a willing mentor would probably be the best option, to keep me producing work and to help me develop."

regarding university writing programs. This in turn got me to ask myself just what is the overall weakness of such programs, or of writing classrooms in general.

I'll suggest that in a classroom situation it is not necessarily a love of writing that is serving as the motivating factor to produce stories, poems, plays, etc. The real motivation is either getting a passing grade or in getting the approval of an instructor. It's no surprise then, that once a class is over and there's no more grades to be achieved or no instructor to encourage them, that many students stop writing.

Question: Exactly what is it that motivates someone, or you, to write? Is it getting high marks in a class? Is it having a deadline and having someone else tell you that every Tuesday you will turn in a new story? Is it having a teacher tell you you're a good writer? Is it seeing your name in print, or is it the possibility of perhaps making money from something your wrote? Is motivation for any human endeavor, writing included, based on the idea that you will get a reward for your effort?

Question Two: If motivation is based on the idea of being somehow rewarded, what would motivate you to sit at a keyboard and write for 8 plus hours a day, to treat writing not as a hobby, but as a vocation? Would the motivation have to be money, or could it be something else? Finally, can someone become a professional writer if they lack motivation?

These are just questions that occurred to me. Feel free to give any feedback.

Terry, over and out...

 

[terryweide]

P.S. One other thought:

If the goal of a writing classroom is to produce good writers, and if once a class is over, no one writes anymore, hasn't that classroom failed?

Terry

 

[Auer]

Telling stories. That's my motivation. From a small kid, I had very strong imagination and writing is the best - or only way of fulfilling that. And my imagination is so vivid that I have to do something about it - write, draw, paint... to create something. Maybe it sounds crazy.

But I want to tell stories and share the ideas and stories I have in my head with other people, it's as simple as that. Maybe it sounds naive or something, but for me it's just that and here in Finland you really can't even expect to make money by writing fantasy

And when I receive a message from some reader who has enjoyed my novel, that's the best reward I get Believe it or not!
It's just a shame there's so little time...

 

[cyborg_cinema]

If the goal of a writing classroom is to produce good writers, and if once a class is over, no one writes anymore, hasn't that classroom failed?

...if a writing class teacher sincerely tried to produce a good writer—but did not—"failure" is just a word. Maybe one of their students will pick up the torch later.

 

[terryweide]

And if they never pick up the torch, what then?

If the idea, at least in part, is to turn out people who will keep writing on a consistent basis, and then the people don't, what do you call that?

Terry

 

[littlemissattitude]

I write because I have to, and because I love it. The experience of putting words together on a page so that they communicate something is...well, it's exciting for me. And its huge fun, as strange as that sounds. This is not to say that there aren't times when it is very difficult, but when it is hard, it is just that much more satisfying when I've finished what I'm writing.

Now, I must include this caveat...I mostly write non-fiction, although I'm currently playing with a novel I've had in the back of my head for a long time, and have some bits and pieces of written. But writing non-fiction is really the same as writing fiction, except that I'm working with a factual set of ideas rather than a set of ideas that I've made up. It's still stringing sentences and paragraphs together in a way that I hope makes sense and that I hope will make the reader think and that they will enjoy.

 

[bendoran]

i really like reading, and i have all these ideas in my head, just wanting to come out. i think i live half my life in my imagination and am constantly looking for inspiration. if i didnt write i may just live my fanatasies, and if you ever get to read my stuff that would be bad

 

[Culhwch]

I write because I have to, and because I love it.

Yeah, that's about the size of it.

Terry, in my comments on the other thread, I didn't mean I had stopped completely, but rather that I hadn't been able to focus in on one piece for extended periods of time. I write everyday. Unfortunately, it's rarely on the same pieces. That's my main problem: too many ideas on the boil at once. I become fixated on one, lose interest, work on something else, come back and do some more, wander off again, and so on. At uni I had to focus on one piece and get it done. That was what was good about it. I wasn't concerned about marks (other than passing) or what my tutors thought, because for the most part they weren't big fans of my chosen genre. But the deadlines made me focus. Now I have to find something else to make me do that. The right idea, a mentor, something that works.

That being said, of the thirty or so classmates I had, I know of one who is seriously giving professionalism a tilt, another couple doing what I'm doing, working and trying to write what they can. A few have left it behind to move onto different passions. The rest, God knows, but I doubt many of them still write. So your comments are valid.

When it comes down to it, I write for myself. If I got published, great, but I don't see it happening anytime soon. I write because I enjoy it. I write because if I didn't get the ideas in my head out on paper, they'd drive me crazy (thought they often do anyway). I write because I can never find the exact kind of story I want to read, so dammit, I'll do it myself. I don't want fame. I wouldn't say no to the money, but I'd only use it to make my other dreams come true - to open a nice, quiet little bookstore where I can hide away from the real world, and maybe tap out a few stories. Beyond that...

 

[alexhurry]

My motivation is pretty much the fact that I love to write, I always have done. I get a great boost in confidence when my english teacher praises me a lot and I get the top marks in english exams.

 

[Stargazer1976]

For me I want to create stories that make people say "How did he think of that". Obviously the story alo has to be well written so it will keep peoples interest long enough for them to finish it, but the main thing that keeps me going is a story that has a twist or something truly unique.

If I reach a point where I don't feel like I have something in that catagory I just take a break until something new surfaces. I always look at things around me to try to develope new ideas and every so often I get a new good idea.

Ultimately all the things listed in the first post as incentive are there, its just a matter of which one is most important to each writer.

 

[shandril]

i dont know about anybody else but strong emotions and a good audience bring out my creative side in another chat room im in i get up in the mornings and go in and tell my friends in there bed time stories off the top of my head i make it up as i go along and since its in a public chat room im getting constant feed back to play on...its lots of fun and the people in there really enjoy it

i think if i had to do it for money or a dead line i would get writers block
*laughs*

 

[Mark Robson]

... a good audience bring out my creative side ...
i think if i had to do it for money or a dead line i would get writers block
*laughs*

Ah, yes! I empathise with both of these. My main motivation is feedback. I now do have deadlines and often get blocks, but not normally for long. Fan mail does it for me. Having readers constantly writing to me to find out when my next book will hit the bookshelves is like a drug.

 

[Rosemary]

Just about anything and everything!

I have always loved to read and write. Ideas just seem to spring up so often. I have to keep little note books everywhere, then later type them up.

I just love to write is my main motivation

 

[star_song]

I write because I feel the need to be heard. I love to read and also love expressing my self in strings of words woven together, but, it is deeper than that. I have so many ideas within the confines of my head beating at the innerwalls to be let out. The best medium for this, as so many of you have said, is to write. (Very vivid imagination as a child too lol)

My other motivation is love for the craft. I love to learn and better my self at what I do and if by writing and writing and writing I will improve, so be it.

I do not think if one lacks motivation for writing one could take it on as a vocation. One of the most talented writers I know, never produces anything out of lack of motivation. Then, would claim to fall subject to writer's block.
Writing takes dedication.

 

[Stormflame]

When I was living at home, I WROTE. I mean, I would write till I could write no more. Upon getting up from my table, my body ached, my fingers had grooves, and the gallon or so of tea that I consumed every day, weighed heavy on me. I could write in excess of fifty longhanded pages a day, never losing thought pattern, and NEVER running out of ideas.

LoL. But, that was before I moved out of 'mommas house' and found a life. I wish I could write like I did back then. My writing has improved, and I know much more on the how-to's of publishing and what-not. But, mixing up marriage, a kid, work, and stress in the brew, my writing attention span lasts about two minutes.

Often I find myself at work rushing to get home to start on that 'novel' I have been thinking about, but-

Yea, I agree with the above poster. I use to write to stress myself and let everyone know that, "Hey, I have a voice." I also utilized my writing to escape a bad home life. Those hours of setting in front of a wavering candle, or staring out the window at the endless stars of a night sky as the city lights rolled on to the horizon, were not in vain! It gave me motivation to move on and through my writing, I found solace and determination.

........

 

[FelineEyes]

Sometimes I have a simalar problem...too much to do, not enough time to do it...great ideas, thousands of distractions, and the attention span of a eight week old psycotic kitten.

My best moviation is that I just have to write. My fingers start to itch from the inside out and I have to write something or I"m going to go crazy.

 

[Lacedaemonian]

I lack all motivation to write currently though i am still formualting ideas in my head pretty much daily. In fact I would say since I stopped writing I have discovered the absolute design for my story and the final twist the last roll of dice at the end of the book coming to me sitting in a meeting with social services whilst at work. I need more boring meetings about money. I find it very difficult to set aside time to write these days.

My motivation for writing is purely to give my characters life. Their story deserves to be told.

 

[captaintripps]

I hope this doesn't sound too nebulous, but for me I pretty much have to write. I've so many ideas spinning in my head that I've just got to get them down in one form or another.

My problem is - and always has been - finishing.

I've been writing since I was 11-ish, and I'm 39 now.

Stories completed so far..?

One.

 

[PERCON]

I'm motivated by my need to read new things, if there's nothing out there I like, then I write it myself and read it months after it's finished. I'm very strange. Hmmm, not the first time I've told myself that, I wonder when it'll sink in...


PERCON

 

[Alicia]

Personally, I write because my characters, the characters I have created within the world I've created, are a constant part of me...I guess you could say they won't leave me alone. It's almost as if they nag me because their story needs to be told. This probably sounds very freakish but...that's just how it is (with me anyway).

It usually helps me to get in the mood to write if I listen to music that I feel is a part of the world I'm working with (Celtic or Native American). One of my favorite pieces of music to listen to (especially when writing a fight scene) is Wagner's "O Fortuna" [commonly recognized as the title theme from the movie "Excalibur"]. It also helps if I watch fantasy movies. This helps me connect with my own fantasy world.