What Motivates You to Write?

[LJonesy]

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...

I just have to. I'll think about why later.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

I have to say, it's my emotions that motivate my writing, and I don't really do poetry all that often, so my pieces usually come out rushed with no story. I'd be a decent erotic genre author, I suppose, but I don't do that kind of thing....

But really, it's hard sometimes, writing a halfway decent-quality piece, and I sometimes lose the patience for it.....

 

[assassin]

Almost anything.
people, places, things.
Of course going for a long walk helps too.

 

[TheManager]

What motivates me? Same as most people. The need to have your 'brilliant' ideas heard. Also, when I do show my work to people the fact that they want more.

Another thing is scenery or an interesting event. I could like at at strangely shaped tree and think 'Wow that would be so fun to describe in my book'

 

[Imitar]

I wake up every single morning and ask myself, "Why aren't I famous?" I feel I have alot of fantastic ideas floating around in my head, and I need an outlet so the entire world can view them. But sometimes it's hard to sit and type away on the keyboard, especially with all the technological marvels we have surrounding us acting as temptations. We have the internet- which is alot like crack as it's addicting as hell. We have tv, radio, cell phones, you name it. Years ago before this technological upheavel came, it was a little more believable sitting in front of a typewriter to write a 100,000 word novel. Nowadays it's a struggle, and few can make it to the end.

 

[RVM45]

.....In one short word: CAFFEINE!

.....RVM45

 

[LJonesy]

A fair reason for motivation can come for pure enjoyment. Also, the sense of being unrestricted. Quite often writers find that they can fully express themselves and their ideas without being pressured or having to conform to a certain imposed standard they feel they could do without. Along with that freedom comes with enjoyment. To give yourself the time and space to let your imagination run wild is difficult not to be enjoyable.

 

[Purdy Bear]

I love to write. I love the research, thinking up new worlds, buildings, characters, events. Infact I just enjoy and love everthing about it.

What motivates me is the fact I love it so very much, but also the need to share my stories with others. If I enjoy them and they bring so much joy to me, I would love to do the same for others.

Music helps me get into the writing zone and I have also scheduled my writing for every day except the weekends.

 

[chopper]

At the moment, my motivation is an idea that invaded my mind and won't go away, coupled with a long and excellent book on classical history and a week of wandering around Marrakech.

normally, i have to fight distractions to sit and write but even if i just get 50 words a day into my notebook it gaathers shape...

 

[Toby Frost]

I enjoy it, I want to get better at it, and I like creating, both things in the worlds and putting together the words themselves. And if that sounds too arty, the recent prospect of royalties is an incentive too!

 

[TheUltimateChosenOne]

What motivates me? Just the thought of creating a journey and taking it.

When I've writing I feel like I'm taking the journey that my characters take. It's like role playing video games, when you customize your character and make desicions on what the character will do or say!

 

[Interference]

Dickens was motivated by poverty to write A Christmas Carol and though it didn't make him a millionnaire or anything, it is still, perhaps, among his most well-known and best-loved works.

Unfortunately, he already had a pretty good rep before he started it, but even so ...

 

[LJonesy]

I've diverted from Fiction to songwriting, and i think my past experiences have been the basis and motivation to express them in the song form. It's a difficult craft by comparison to prose...

 

[Interference]

It's still a three-act format, though, Jonesy. VERSE 1 - Boy meets girl; VERSE 2 - Boy loses girl; CHORUS; VERSE 3 - Boy stalks girl's new boyfriend and gets arrested for possession of unlicenced dynamite; REPEAT THE CHORUS INTERMINABLY OR UNTIL FADE-OUT.

 

[LJonesy]

haha good one

 

[reiver33]

I either get (a) a narrative build up that churns away in my (semi) subconcious until it 'sorts itself out' - when I'm writing its almost a race to remember it all before it fades, or (b) a sudden 'good idea', generally after being off my face on too many pain killers

 

[Hilarious Joke]

Tons of reasons. But one is that I like making people. Probably why I enjoy The Sims 2 so much also .

 

[chrispenycate]

I've diverted from Fiction to songwriting, and i think my past experiences have been the basis and motivation to express them in the song form. It's a difficult craft by comparison to prose...

I'm going to disagree with this statement. Individual words are more difficult to find, but there are much fewer of them. As with the difference between book and film , you are forced to tell a much simpler story, as there isn't space for the complexity.

Unlike traditional poetry, nobody cares if you use perfect rhyme or a decent assonance, and certainly there's no expectation of impeccable grammar.

Certainly, songwriting (and traditional poetry) imposes strict limitations on line length and stressed syllables (particularly if, as is frequently the case with me, the music exists first and I have to create a text or, worse, adapt a text in another language) but there is one overwhelming advantage.

When you have a line which is right, you know it. There's no going back and agonising over whether it could be improved. It's done, time to move on.

 

[Interference]

I'm a little timid about disagreeing with your disagreement, Chris, but I've found myself, years after the act of writing even a simple song, re-writing lines and improving on it where possible. But, as I'm not a professional songwriter, this is a luxury I can afford.

Someone who is a professional songwriter is Paul Simon and he's been known to change or dd entire verses to his back-catalogue for live performance.

I suppose, the extent to which I agree with you is if the writer's sole goal is to provide fodder for a new album or performance. Then it's the performance that matters, not the words and a laundry list will suffice. Song writing is considered a poor relation of poetry, but that doesn't stop us songwriters aspiring, does it?

 

[Zoe_W]

I write almost every day, and aside from times where I get writer's block, or I'm just too tired to write, it's very easy for me to stay motivated. When I'm creating a new stand alone story, I'm interested in the process of balancing character development and plot development. Or striking the right balance between dialogue and action. I make goals for improvement for myself with each story, and I try to stick with them.

But, when I'm working on a sequel in my dark fantasy series, then there's an added excitement of returning to familiar characters, to uncover new facets of their past, or to develop new relationships in new locations. Then I'm motivated by continuing the open threads from my other stories. Will Jobe recover from his mental illness, and will he ever be able to see his sister, Amber, without flying into a rage? Will Amber survive to carry a vampire baby to full term? Will Wendy get revenge for the destruction of her family?

In either case, it's not just the act of creation, but the process of slowly developing each project through multiple drafts and revisions, until I finally end up with a story that I'm truly happy with. From the beggining of the process to the end, my motivation is imagining how good the story will be, once it's all polished and purty. ^_^