If you knew that you would never be published...

Yeah, i'd still write as getting published is a lesser priority.

I just write because i love it and if i never get published then i would just post anything i write on the internet

XX

Honestly? I probably wouldn't want to write. But I would miss it and probably regret it.

Alpha Echo said:

I would think that if anybody says no to this question, they're writing for the wrong reasons, and their chances of being published are less than someone who writes for the pure passion and love of it. In art, and writing is an art form, don't you think that people must have a passion for what they're doing?

I used to dance. For 15 years, I competed in regional and national competitions under a bunch of genres. When you saw someone up on stage dancing without passion - technically they were a genious maybe, but they didn't light up the stage, they were missing that...UMPH - you could see it! And that person inevitably would not win. They were missing an energy, a purpose in their movements.

I feel that writing would be that way too.

Besides that, from what I hear writing is not necessarily a lucrative occupation, so why would anyone write just for the money?

I have been writing since I knew how to write. I will keep writing whether or not I get published, whether or not anyone reads it. If I never get published, I will probably self-publish so I can hold the finished product, cover and all, in my hands. But I will keep writing. I've always loved manipulating the English language, using it to express my thoughts and feelings, yearnings, joys, and pains. And I always will.

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No publication, no writing for me. Money doesn't enter into it. And I don't think your analogy is accurate. The dancer in your example had people watching her. Would she, would you, have danced for so long with no one watching?

I always wrote. I wrote when I didn't know anybody could be published...when I was a kid who thought only the Gods were published. Seriously, I thought the writers were chosen drinkers of manna...me, published? That's impossible. I think I was reincarnated from the caste below the lowest caste ever created. Me? Right...

So, yes...I would write if somebody informed me I would never ever be published...I always believed I never ever would be.

Since I never bothered to think about the idea of publication until it was suggested to me, I would say yes, although I would probably only write short pieces.

Jenifer said:

Would you continue to write?

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Until the day I had no more stories to tell.

I would keep writing. But I'd probably stop editing and rewriting and editing some more...

This is an odd question. It takes as hypothesis that we know something that is unknowable. Therefore, it's moot. Not sure I like that.

But if it were somehow knowable by some stroke of magic, I'd keep writing--but I'd put a lot less work into it.

Of course. I love to write, and I don't really expect great achievements like getting published. It probably wouldn't bother me that much if I never got published. I'd still write.

Of course I'd still write. I was writing for years before I started seriously thinking about publication, and the stories themselves are still my highest priority.

Yeah, and it would all be slimily filthy. In fact I'm going to pretend this as a way to delve even deeper into the nasty. No publish means no disapproval no self-editing nothing's outa bounds.

Writing's more like a tic. Spewing of a gargoyle. Story is all.

Never mind the attention-seeking clown aspect. Later with that.

Since I'd rather not see my head explode from the build up ideas, I'd continue to write. Whether or not people would see it, is not as important. I clean when no one's coming over (understand, that my standards of cleaning are fairly low.) I would write if no one read it. The stories have to be told.

Nope. I wouldn't write anymore if I knew I could never be published. And it IS a matter of my priorities. My priority is to leave the 9 to 5 world forever. My priority would be to put time into doing something I know would help me achieve that. If not writing, then something else. I chose writing as my way to achieve that because I do enjoy writing. Every part of it from brainstorming to research to writing to rewriting.

But, I'm in it for the money. And not in a greedy way. If I could make $40,000 - $50,000 a year from my writing, that's enough for me. If I were rich, I'd end up giving most of it away anyway. I have no attachments to material possessions.

That said, the ultimate reason I write, then, is to achieve FREEDOM OF MY TIME! I hate having a company that doesn't care about me tell me what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and to do it faster and more often. Money happens to be one of the keys to achieving my goal of freedom.

Besides, I could go back to being a normal reader instead of reading as a writer.

ETA: Choosing not to write anymore doesn't make me (or anyone else) less of a person or a writer. It doesn't negate our love, passion or enjoyment of writing.

As I've said before in other threads: Regardless of success or failure, I'll write 'til the cold of death freezes my fingers on the keyboard. (I may not even stop then. )

I already know I'm never going to be published, because I haven't the heart or courage to bother trying.

I'm still writing though. I love to do it, and I have nothing better to do, and even if it isn't published, that doesn't mean people can't read it. It just means my audience is much more limited and I'm not making any money off it. In truth I'd prefer the readers over the money any day. In truth I'd prefer just one or two people who are honestly interested in what I write and who I could connect to. So of course, publishing is pretty much my last priority by now. I'd just be glad to have people reading and enjoying the stuff!

*sighs wistfully*

Well, I'm already published in magazines so it's a moot point anyway...

If I knew I could never be published, I would still write. I kind of have the personality where I won't stop. I go as high as I can go, until I go over my head and crash and burn. So yes, I would still keep trying and if I still couldn't be publish, I would go into self-publishing.

Jenifer said:

Here's another question: if you knew that no one else would ever read your work, would you continue to write?

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Yes, still I would write, but I would be terribly depressed about it. I write because I love to, because it's second nature to me, but one of my highest priorities is to make an impact on someone else, to move them, to inspire or interest them or entertain them, and hopefully to connect to somebody over my writing. Knowing for certain that this would never happen would crush me.

Unfortunately I suspect this may be so already.

Hmmm, I've already been published many times as a technical author and journalist so it's hard to answer truthfully. I think I would keep writing.

However, if The God Of Writing tapped me on the shoulder and told me I could not write well and had no ability, I think I would give up, give in, and spend this lifetime doing something more productive. After all, once you've been told something like that by some almighty god, how could you ever enjoy it again?

Yes I would still write becuse my beta readers wouldn't let me quit. I love to write

Jenifer said:

Would you continue to write?

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I'd commit Seppuku

Alpha Echo said:

I would think that if anybody says no to this question, they're writing for the wrong reasons, and their chances of being published are less than someone who writes for the pure passion and love of it. In art, and writing is an art form, don't you think that people must have a passion for what they're doing?

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I disagree with some of the assumptions above. But first off, if I were to discover that I would never be published again, I would not continue to write.

Is it because I lack a passion for writing? Not quite. I have a passion for stories, which is close. That means I get enjoyment out of reading my own completed stories and others' completed stories. And I do enjoy writing far more than I enjoy programming, and if I had the choice, I would rather be paid to write than program. But I also have bills to pay. Obligations to meet. And only twenty-four hours in the day. And every hour I write is an hour I am not spending with my husband or my friends or my family, an hour I am not taking care of the survival necessities, an hour I am not spending reading something that is more publishable than my work (assuming my work is unpublishable, of course)(heh). So I write with the goal of publication, with the goal of writing at some unknown point in the future becoming my primary career. And I write because I want to create beautiful stories and read them and have other people read them. Lots of other people. I write with a purpose. Without publication, these goals dissipate. I can turn stories around in my head whenever I please without expending the effort of a first draft. I can read and lose myself in the worlds that others create without stealing near as much time from my loved ones.

I don't need to write. I want to write.




-Michelle

If I knew I would never be published I would quit writing. I don't need this heartache.

Then I'd take up some equally frustrating hobby, like striving to be on the next USA Olympic Men's Gymnastic team (think 51 is too old?) or maybe giving a concerto at Carnegie Hall, as soon as I mastered some musical instrument that I haven't decided on yet.

Jenifer said:

Would you continue to write?

Where is publication on your list of priorities?

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Pretty much at the top. I write historical fiction and if I thought all that research, writing, revising and editing was going nowhere I honestly wouldn't do it. I have another interest I'd pour all my time and effort into - a vineyard. I love growing grapes so instead of a hobby I'd probably make it a business.
Linnea