Why do people write?

[JohnJStephens]

I saw the 'What do people write?' thread, and this is very interesting. It does not answer one question that I have on my mind, however, which concerns the 'why'.

I assume that most people on this site write because they love it, but also because they would like the thrill of being a published author, if they have not gained this status already (PA scam victims aside)

I suspect that I am in a minority, in that something happened to me which I felt a need to write about, because I did not feel it had been adequately covered anywhere else. Sure, I would love to be a published writer, and I have often thought that it would be cool to write a book. But my main motivation is having been witness to, in my eyes, a monstrous injustice (of which I was not a victim), and wishing to communicate this injustice to the outside world. I strive to get published in order to achieve this.

While I am vain, and honest, enough to recognize that I would LOVE the kudos that go with the status 'published author', it is not my main objective. I would never wish to give up my day job, because I love my day job!

I would very much like to know what motivates other people to write.

[KTC]

I write because I have to. The worlds inside my head are bigger than the ones outside. I need to purge. I love the written word. I love to read and I love to write. I wouldn't feel like myself if I didn't write. Plain and simple.

[cwfgal]

I saw the 'What do people write?' thread, and this is very interesting. It does not answer one question that I have on my mind, however, which concerns the 'why'.

It's a good question but I don't know why I write. I'm not sure I care why. I just know NOT writing isn't an option for me.

While I am vain, and honest, enough to recognize that I would LOVE the kudos that go with the status 'published author', it is not my main objective. I would never wish to give up my day job, because I love my day job!

That's a good thing because not many people can give up their day jobs just because they get published.

Beth

[JAlpha]

I saw the 'What do people write?' thread, and this is very interesting. It does not answer one question that I have on my mind, however, which concerns the 'why'.

I assume that most people on this site write because they love it, but also because they would like the thrill of being a published author, if they have not gained this status already (PA scam victims aside)

I suspect that I am in a minority, in that something happened to me which I felt a need to write about, because I did not feel it had been adequately covered anywhere else. Sure, I would love to be a published writer, and I have often thought that it would be cool to write a book. But my main motivation is having been witness to, in my eyes, a monstrous injustice (of which I was not a victim), and wishing to communicate this injustice to the outside world. I strive to get published in order to achieve this.

While I am vain, and honest, enough to recognize that I would LOVE the kudos that go with the status 'published author', it is not my main objective. I would never wish to give up my day job, because I love my day job!

I would very much like to know what motivates other people to write.

Your explanation leaves me with a question . . .

Why not "tell" your story to someone else, and have them write it? :Shrug:

[scarletpeaches]

I write because I have to. The worlds inside my head are bigger than the ones outside. I need to purge. I love the written word. I love to read and I love to write. I wouldn't feel like myself if I didn't write. Plain and simple.

I love this quote, especially the bit in bold. I'd like to use it as my screen saver, if I may? Then when I pause long enough for it to appear, it will be a kick up the arse to get writing again!

[Perks]

Because I've been threatened with grave injury to my person if I don't. These are no conditions to work under...

[willietheshakes]

I write because I've been told I can't do my day-job in my bath-robe...

[MarkPettus]

I didn't know I had any choice.

(Now Uncle Jim will have to think of a new answer)

[brokenfingers]

My other passion: staying out all night drinking and carousing was wreaking havoc with my body.

Now I just stick to writing. Even though it wreaks havoc with my mind at least there's no lawyer's fees the next day...

[Saanen]

Hmm, well, I figure everyone is born with the potential to be good at something, even if it's something fairly simple. Over the years we discover what we're good at and work at it until it's a part of us. For me, it's writing. I do a lot of things pretty well, but I get to a certain point and think "good enough"; the one thing I'm always striving to improve is my writing.

[ANNIE]

See my qote below. and I have to listen to the voices, they can get nasty if I don't.

[KTC]

See my qote below. and I have to listen to the voices, they can get nasty if I don't.

BRAVO! I too listen to the voices. I love the voices! And Peaches, it's all yours! Just don't kick your arse too hard! We need to sit on them to write!

[maestrowork]

Fame and fortune. World domination. Bwhwahahahahahaha!

[WannabeWriter]

My reasons...

1. It's fun.
2. I have many ideas for stories that haven't been done my way yet.
3. I want to write material that could entertain people and also make people think (which is somewhat of a stretch).

[kristie911]

Because I want people to like me...I was paying them but I ran out of money.

Okay, really? Because I if I don't I'll end up in the mental hospital doing macrame and talking to the voices in my head.

[carley]

I write because it's always a challenge. My mom calls me a professional job hopper. Once I learn a particular job I get very bored and end up quitting and finding something else completely different. I know I will never learn all that there is to learn about writing and if I get bored I can always try another genre!

And of course, it's a great excuse to sit around in my pj's and drink coffee until four o'clock in the afternoon. :)

[Andrew Dugan]

I write because writing is one of the few things I'm truly good at. I know some wonderful stories. If I don't write, this talent starves and dies, and then I'm left with even fewer abilities.

And I don't want that to happen.

[Mike Coombes]

I've seen the 'why do you write' thread on just about every board for the last 15-20 years, and the answers are all the same. This post raises a further question, which doesn't often get asked:

Hmm, well, I figure everyone is born with the potential to be good at something, even if it's something fairly simple. Over the years we discover what we're good at and work at it until it's a part of us. For me, it's writing. I do a lot of things pretty well, but I get to a certain point and think "good enough"; the one thing I'm always striving to improve is my writing.

What if you found that you weren't good enough? If your only chance of publication, no matter how long you lived, was to sell yourself to PA? Would you still write?

Because the point is, for the majority of us, that publishing deal is never going to happen. And it's never going to happen because, no matter how hard we try, we'll never actually write anything worthy. We all work in hope, but for a large number of us, obscurity is the best we can hope for. If you knew for a fact that was your lot, would you still write?

[aruna]

What if you found that you weren't good enough? If your only chance of publication, no matter how long you lived, was to sell yourself to PA? Would you still write?

No. A thousand times, No. I would not support those scumbags. If I was in that situation and needed to get my work in print I'd self publish.

Otherwise: I started writing becuse I wasn't seeing my stories, my characters, anywhere. Nobody was writing the books I wanted to read. So I wrote them instead. Reading doesn't satisfy me the way writing does - and I've always been a voracious reader.

[reph]

...for the majority of us, that publishing deal is never going to happen. And it's never going to happen because, no matter how hard we try, we'll never actually write anything worthy.
Not if novels are the only form of writing deemed worthy. But most writers aren't novelists.

[JohnJStephens]

Lots of interesting replies. A burning desire to write seems to underpin most people's reasons...

Why not "tell" your story to someone else, and have them write it?

Yes, it may come to that. But first, I will have a go myself.

I set myself a schedule about one year ago. First, just sit down and write the book. This was hard! I never realized what an effort it was to commit 140,000 words to print, even if turns out that the quality is lamentable. It really was an almighty effort for me, and makes me think that even the PA-no hopers have at least some qualities, namely determination and doggedness. Next, I received standard feedback from family, friends and acquaintances, and received the usual encouragements from people that may, of course, want to spare my feelings.

One thing which makes me feel confident, is that I have received good quality feedback as to whether the underlying message of the book makes sense. The book is genuinely unusual in that it exploits, as source material, the leaked 400,000 page case file of Europe's largest ever criminal investigation into a serial killer. This does not necessarily make the book a great read, however.

One major roadblock that I have met is that there are no parallels that I can draw upon, unless someone here can point one out to me. In most cases, declaring that a book is unique is simply not true. But it looks as though my situation *is* unique, because it is extremely rare that an entire case file falls into the hands of journalists or anyone else. The best someone can normally hope for is a few documents, plus statements by sources that may or may not wish to remain anonymous. But an entire case file offers unique possibilities because it allows the writer to PROVE that certain leads were not followed up. If independent witnesses A, B and C accuse X of something, nothing less than the entire case file will do when it comes to proving that X was left alone. If, say, X was not arrested, this does not prove by itself that the police did nothing. They may, after all, have checked A, B, C and X out thoroughly, and honestly decided that there was little chance of getting anywhere (the alleged crimes happened too long ago, for example).

Even finding a book that parallels mine, in the sense that publication in the U.S. was sought because of easily foreseen problems with U.K. libel laws, is not easy. The closest parallel I have found, so far, is 'The Committee', a book about alleged collusion between the Northern Ireland Security Services and Loyalist Terrorists, published by Sean McPhilemy in 1998. Like myself, he set out to name names, and was forced to go the U.S. route because publication was impossible in the U.K.

Needless to say, this did not affect its status (in fact, I am sure it enhanced it) as the U.K.'s No 1 best seller, for a time, on Amazon's site, even though it was only available on www.amazon.com and not www.amazon.co.uk, and was unavailable for sale in any of the U.K.'s bricks and mortar bookshops. U.K. libel laws, incidentally, make the bookseller, as well as the author, liable from the moment the libel has been pointed out to them.

But even this 'closest parallel' is unsatisfactory from my point of view. The subject matter is completely different, and the source material was different (almost entirely based on the testimony of one source, rather than an entire criminal case file). But the desire to name names (rightly or wrongly), and to go the U.S. route if that is what it takes, is shared by McPhilemy and myself.

Anyway, I am now at the point of submitting my first query letters to agencies and/or publishers, and this forum (plus, Writer's Market 2005 and Guide to Lierary Agents 2005) is proving to be a mine of information.

I am hoping that my query letter will at intrigue one or more agents/publishers sufficiently to read the manuscript, simply because they are curious about the subject matter. If the general view is that the subject matter is gripping, but the writing is not up to scratch, then that will be very useful information for me. If, on the other hand, the subject matter is not of sufficient interest, then this is also invaluable feedback, even though it would be a huge disappointment.

Based on this feedback, I will then decide what to do next.

[Unique]

....because I can.

[Jamesaritchie]

I would very much like to know what motivates other people to write.

The why is easy for me. I make money from writing, I enjoy the process of writing, and I absolutely love being my own boss.

[kristie911]

Because the point is, for the majority of us, that publishing deal is never going to happen. And it's never going to happen because, no matter how hard we try, we'll never actually write anything worthy. We all work in hope, but for a large number of us, obscurity is the best we can hope for.

Thanks for the morning pep talk...I'm going back to bed.:sleepy:

[Niapri]

I write because if I didn't, I'd probably be in a mental hospital by now. Multiple personality disorder.

Seriously, though. I really write because I tried not writing for a couple years...with bad results. I've written since I could comprehend the written word. Really. My first story was on my mom's typewriter, and it was called: Anne and Misty. About a unicorn and a wolf. I was...somewhere between five and six years old. I wrote detective stories, school stories...

The decision to write was never in my hands.

[aka eraser]

Because I'm good at it, I enjoy it, and much of the time I get paid for it.

[Aconite]

John, it sounds like you need a good agent (who will be able to advise you on many of your concerns) and a publisher with a strong legal team. You may want to consider legal representation of your own, too. It sounds like you've got quite an opportunity on your hands.

Why do I write? I can't not make things. Put me in an empty room and I will end up writing on the floor with my spit and braiding tiny macrame figurines out of my hair. (My father used to worry about my ability to occupy myself with a piece of string on long car trips. Poor man.)

[fallenangelwriter]

I write to give the chaos in my head obective reality.

I'm thinking, al the time, about pretty much everything. i make up people, places, events, philosophies. I come up with ideas for a better world, insights into why people ar ethe way they are, spiritual beliefs and ethical statements. mostly i come up with people and thins so real to me it's kind of painful.

I write because when i've tried describing what i see in conversation it takes too long, and people don't understand it. but if i wreite it, and they read it, they'll see what i'm about. self-expression, i suppose. I'm a bit of a show-off at heart, too, though i do my best to quell it.

[pconsidine]

That's an easy one -

I write because I hate financial security and getting an art degree didn't leave me quite broke enough.

Seriously though, I write because it's the only think I can do that doesn't make me feel like I ought to be doing something else. That's all.

[Saanen]

What if you found that you weren't good enough? If your only chance of publication, no matter how long you lived, was to sell yourself to PA? Would you still write?

Because the point is, for the majority of us, that publishing deal is never going to happen. And it's never going to happen because, no matter how hard we try, we'll never actually write anything worthy. We all work in hope, but for a large number of us, obscurity is the best we can hope for. If you knew for a fact that was your lot, would you still write?

But think about it this way: If you continue to write--and by "continue to write" of course I mean "work hard at improving, learn from mistakes, be honest about your shortcomings and strengths, seek outside opinions from time to time from people in the field you respect, and focus on the process of writing rather than the end result"--you will get better. It may take decades, it may take most of your life, but eventually you will write something worthy (your term, not mine). For one thing, literary tastes change, sometimes drastically. Literature from even fifty years ago is quite different from literature today. If you have a style that doesn't sell now, you may be perfectly placed to ride a trend that starts twenty years from now.

[Renatus]

Writing gives me a feeling that nothing else does. When I'm working on a story, it feels right. Even though I draw and paint and do lots of crafty things, they don't hit the same spot that writing does.

I also collect stories like knicknacks collect dust. I can't help it; I'll have an interesting, vivid dream, or I'll ponder a what if, or I'll have an image or voice of some interesting person in my mind. I think about it a few more times, and wham, storyline. I don't forget enough of them to keep my brain from filling up with them, so it is better if I write them out.

Finally, I like the stories I come up with. I haven't read anything quite like what I've written (or will write), and I think that there is a good chance that other people will like my stories, too. If they are willing to pay me for it so much the better, but if not, I'll get those stories out there somehow.

[JackieG]

This is a question I wrestle with often. Not that I'm considering PA. Someone else commented that they would self-publish first, and I agree that self-publishing would be my own "last resort".

So, if after self-publishing my first book, would I write another and another, and finish out my trilogy? I think so, simply because I need to get them out of my head. Would I continue to write and self-publish, just for the pleasure of seeing my stories completed? I don't know. Probably not.

I'm not looking for a six-figure book deal or anything, but I'd like to be able to call myself a professional at some point. If, after some years of struggle, I'm in the same place then as I am now, I think it would be time to re-evaluate.