Why do you write?

[Alice Glitterhorn]

So. Dunno if I'm just feeling weird at the moment but I've been trying to figure out why I, personally, like to write, and especially the differences in why I write prose and why I write poetry. I still haven't totally figured it out yet but I'm actually quite interested in hearing the replies of other people - I like knowing why people do things. It just interests me, I suppose.

So, my questions are (answer any that apply to you):

Why do you write?

Why do you write prose?

Why do you write poetry?

[Julian]

Cliché, I started to write when things began going into chaos; when I started to become manically depressed because of many things. Language, peers, sexuality, disorders, death, broken relationships. A bit emo, but meh :P. I tend to keep things to myself and act like a buffoon. So, in a sense, writing's a way of extereorising my contempt. Though, I can be passive-aggressive, and turn from being happy to being extremely fatigued.


I write both, but I seem to grasp the concept of poetry faster than I did with writing. My imagery always has religion in it, and metaphysical stuff is easier to write for me, thus alluding again my constant evasion from conventional society.

[thecollector]

I used to write because I wanted to make something that was either spy-ish. But during 8th grade, that switched; I now write for someone I met and said goodbye to that year. I write to make them proud.

[graystripe79]

I would say that I write because I have a passion for it. It sounds corny but it's true. In third grade, I decided that I wanted to try and write a book. Once I started, I couldn't stop.
When I was a kid, I pretended I was the queen of a magic land and I had make-believe friend etc. (I was a dork) I suppose that's why I write mainly fantasy stories now days.

[Alice Glitterhorn]

I would say that I write because I have a passion for it. It sounds corny but it's true. In third grade, I decided that I wanted to try and write a book. Once I started, I couldn't stop.

Was there anything specific that appealed to you about writing the book?

[Carraka]

I'm pretty sure I won't know how to answer this question until later tonight when I start thinking about it right before I fall asleep. I'm also pretty sure I've answered this question before, but forgotten the answer.

I've always told myself stories. When I was little, it was with my stuffed animals and model dinosaurs. They were rather elaborate stories. I'm not sure why I thought them up, though. Because they were fun. They were more interesting than whatever I was learning in third grade. But I feel like that's a common beginning with just about any kid with an ounce of imagination. Why have I become a novelist now? It's probably because every time I wrote a story, some elementary school teacher was like, "You should become a novelist!" and I thought, hey, not a bad idea, it'll make me speshul.

So right now, I still have stories in my head, only I write some of them down. Maybe it's because if I didn't write, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. No ... what keeps me going is when I realize that I'm the only person in the world who knows how this story will end. I'm the only person in the world who cares what's going to happen to these characters next, and the only person who controls what's happening next. Nobody else is going to pick up this responsibility in my place. No one else is capable of it. (Hopefully, my stories are that unpredictable.)

And I get a lot of enjoyment out of reading. It's nice to imagine becoming part of the book world ... giving back and contributing, instead of taking and devouring.

As for why I don't write poetry, it's because I recognize I have absolutely no talent for it. And I'm also not very interested in cultivating any poetic ability I might have. What would I do with a finished poem? Probably stick it in one of my stories.

[graystripe79]

Alice- In answer to your question. I guess that at the time I just wanted to know what I was going to do when I grew up. You know? I was always coming up with things I wanted to be. When I got to writer, I figured I should try to write a book. So I did, and have been ever sence. :)

[FayGee]

So. Dunno if I'm just feeling weird at the moment but I've been trying to figure out why I, personally, like to write, and especially the differences in why I write prose and why I write poetry. I still haven't totally figured it out yet but I'm actually quite interested in hearing the replies of other people - I like knowing why people do things. It just interests me, I suppose.

So, my questions are (answer any that apply to you):

Why do you write?

Because writing is enjoyable. There probably is a deeper reason for it but I'm too tired to think of it.

Why do you write prose? Because I suck at poetry.

Why do you write poetry? Because I don't.

I know this sounds so un-in depth but I'm tired. And that's a good enough excuse for me. :P

[bookworm]

My first thought was- I have no idea, but now I've started thinking about it, I got to a few things.
I was always writing. I don't think that I ever had a more powerful imagination than other children, I didn't make up my own lands (well, with one exception), I was a normal child, though rather introvertic. What really shaped me was the fact my mum is a poet and I always lived around books, they were and still are my natural enviorment. My mum would read to me, not only stories but whole books and poetry as well. I loved it, and naturally started my own attempts.
I remember one night, when five years old, I got up from bed because I couldn't sleep and started writing the story of a sixteen year old blue-eyed girl with long black hair I had a longing to be. I tried illustrating it, but I was never good at drawing. Funnily enough, I think that might be another reason for why I turned to writing. If I couldn't form a picture with shapes and colours, I would do so with words. I think I started writing poetry more passionately than prose. As a small child who had jjust learned to write, I would dictate my mum what I wanted to say into my rainbow notebook. What is left of it now is the most extraordinary poems, not rhymes about little girls going to buy sweets. The things I wrote between the age of four and eight tend to frighten me. I gradually lost the skill, though, and turned to stories, which seemed more solid. I wrote a book when between nine and ten, again about the girl I wanted to but could not be- the mysterious Clarissa with red locks and a father she does not know, the handsome Gordon Blacksmith.
I think that the prose I used to write was driven by the urge to be someone else, a sense of curiosity- what is it like to be other people? Now I do it because I want to tell a story, a story no one has ever told, yet it exists somewhere, completely ignored. Not that I succeed.
I write poetry because it grows in me. I walk to school and the whole world comes to me in the shape of a poem. I have to and want to write it. I am also passionate about language (well, maybe not the grammar aspects) and love experimenting with the way I use words to shape new worlds.
Although the "wanting to tell a story" and "love for language" exist, I still think what chiefly draws me to both poetry ad prose is simply, however uninspiring and uninteresting it sounds, being used to it. This is one of the only things I would do for nearly all my life, and my love for it stays, however much my personality changes in other aspects. It's my way of percieving and analyzing the world closer than usual. It's just how I express myself, something I think I took out of obsessive diary/journal writing. Instead of telling someone, thinking about something, singing it out, dancing it out, I will automatically write it down.

Boring, messy and exhausting bit of thinking. I believe I'm actually sweating.

[Arty]

No ... what keeps me going is when I realize that I'm the only person in the world who knows how this story will end. I'm the only person in the world who cares what's going to happen to these characters next, and the only person who controls what's happening next. Nobody else is going to pick up this responsibility in my place. No one else is capable of it. (Hopefully, my stories are that unpredictable.)

I've never really considered this before, but actually there's a lot of truth to what you're saying -- with writing, particularly with prose, it's not just a question of creating a 'hidden world' for yourself. I think a lot of people's interest in writing stems from the fact that no one can do it quite like you can, no one can tell your stories just like you want them to be told.

I love that kind of mad perfectionism, hopefully it'll drive us all to live under a bridge one day and be bitter writers together <3

I write poetry because it grows in me. I walk to school and the whole world comes to me in the shape of a poem. I have to and want to write it. I am also passionate about language (well, maybe not the grammar aspects) and love experimenting with the way I use words to shape new worlds.

I think the great thing about writing is that, if someone asks me why I write, I'd want to say exactly the above. But I wouldn't phrase it like that at all. I think great writing should make you perceive things, sometimes completely mundane things, in a way that just wouldn't have entered your head before. Creating new sensations out of old routine, really -- that's the general goal of all my writing, and I write to work closer to that goal.

[Rose]

"Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks." Plutarch (46 - 120)

^ love.

I've been drawing since the day I learned how to hold a pencil. (Before that I just used to eat papers, no jk). And after I learned how to read and write, I started writing short stories and comic strips, even creating my own magazine collections. I wrote a few poems for school in addition to essays, of course. But writing wasn't something major in my life, not like drawing. Then, when I was in 9th grade, my friend and I decided to write a novel - she wrote the main things. I was more of a funny-lines-and-idea-provider, annnd a drawing engine/character designer. :p Anyway. We never finished that novel properly - I actually decided to wrap it up by writing The Lame-est Ending Ever, as it was titled. They year after that, both of us joined YWO. Dundundun. She stayed for a while, then left, but I never did that. My love for writing grew more and more as I learned how to critique and started posting my work, and although it was rubbish at first, I never gave up. And now, I'm a bit less mehful than I used to be, which is heart-warming. It's obviously a motivation, too. When you see yourself growing at something, you feel encouraged to keep on doing it until you've reached a high level of skill. Not perfection, of course, because that level could never be reached.

Now, as for why I write poetry in particular, then I guess it's because I'm not the type of person with enough patience or attention span to be able to keep up with a novel. And because I feel like poetry allows me to express myself more. As the quote above says, "painting is silent poetry." Each poem, to me, is like a painting/drawing. The joy that takes over me when I finish a drawing is just the same in a poem's case. I find more beauty in the language that's used in poetry. The imagery. Emotions. It's conveyed in a stronger way in poetry. Or so I think, at least.

Now I'm going to shut up. Peace. <3

[bookworm]

I think the great thing about writing is that, if someone asks me why I write, I'd want to say exactly the above. But I wouldn't phrase it like that at all. I think great writing should make you perceive things, sometimes completely mundane things, in a way that just wouldn't have entered your head before. Creating new sensations out of old routine, really -- that's the general goal of all my writing, and I write to work closer to that goal.

When I read what you said and I did, I actually realize that I agree with you more than I do with myself. Poetry has completely changed my view of the world. What used to be a pile of leaves is now fallen starfish. It makes you appreciate the world and see things that are far beyond other people.

I forgot to mention another significant reason for which I write. Arty's language thread suddenly reminded me about it.
Living in Poland, I miss England a lot. The only way I can connect with it is through reading books in English and writing in that language. Keeping a diary in English, inventing characters which speak English or live in an English speaking country (and being on YWO of course) stop me from feeling too cut off from that world. I've stopped writing in Polish, I don't even care for my school essays- I've realized that I need writing in English, it gives me some balance and that is what I truly enjoy. So next reason- the place I live in.

[Rose]

When I read what you said and I did, I actually realize that I agree with you more than I do with myself. Poetry has completely changed my view of the world. What used to be a pile of leaves is now fallen starfish. It makes you appreciate the world and see things that are far beyond other people.

I forgot to mention another significant reason for which I write. Arty's language thread suddenly reminded me about it.
Living in Poland, I miss England a lot. The only way I can connect with it is through reading books in English and writing in that language. Keeping a diary in English, inventing characters which speak English or live in an English speaking country (and being on YWO of course) stop me from feeling too cut off from that world. I've stopped writing in Polish, I don't even care for my school essays- I've realized that I need writing in English, it gives me some balance and that is what I truly enjoy. So next reason- the place I live in.

I agree with Nasim. 100% And Arty, of course. Poetry does make me see the world in another way. And, I too, have stopped writing in Arabic (other than essays for school) because I am more comfortable writing and developing my skills in English.

[lostbookworm]

I suppose the reason I began writing was that I was reading books and wanted to be one of them .To be read and loved, to be thought of as famous and to have my characters known through out the world. In other words, my ego. I always failed at writing though because of my short attention span, I could never write all the way through to the end. So recently I changed to writing poetry, mainly because of Plath. And I can point fingers at those who introduced me to her.


Now, as for why I write poetry in particular, then I guess it's because I'm not the type of person with enough patience or attention span to be able to keep up with a novel.


I feel the exact same why. I write poems because I can't do novels or short stories. I get bored of the characters, and poems are just so much quicker and I can put more emotion into them.

[bookworm]

So recently I changed to writing poetry, mainly because of Plath. And I can point fingers at those who introduced me to her.



Good job I like your fingers.

/spam

[Dabs]

I've never actually considered this question before. I just write because I like to. I've been writing since I was a kid, and I've always just kinda done it. It's an emotional, expressive experience.

I occasionally write poetry, too, but it doesn't come naturally to me. I just can't connect to metaphors and small snippets of thought, no matter how aesthetically pleasing the writing may be.

[Georgy]

Frankly I do not like to write, but I am a handicapped guy, so writing is the only comfortable way for me to communicate with humanity.

[FayGee]

Wow. That's morbid. But that's the silver lining on the cloud, I suppose; because you have a great knack for writing! ^^

[Georgy]

Wow. That's morbid. But that's the silver lining on the cloud, I suppose; because you have a great knack for writing! ^^

Thank, FayGee. God bless Innet and YWO. It would be morbid for me to live before Innet and YWO were invented.:)

[Croation Masochist]

Last time one of these threads came around I wasn't actually able to answer, Is uppose I'll give it a go now.

Back in the day, when I was reading Deltora Quest and playing a heap of fantasy MMO's and drawing lots of horrible pictures and dragons ect, there was no way for me to create something that was truly my own. I loved reading, and I thought 'hey, maybe I can combine everything that I love into one thing that is truly my own, writing.'
And so the cliche, horrible, horrible fantasy novels started, they'd get to about 20,000 words, then I'd start a new one with an even better.

But that's how it started off. Now I just do it as an academic thing, and to keep myself feeling like 'im different and so sophisticated coz i can write =D'

Consequently, I can't write anything without hating it, and all my inspiration has leaked out of my brain. I'm much much better than I was, but now I can't even form to sentences without saying to myself 'screw this ,I'm gunna go do something else'

[FayGee]

Thank, FayGee. God bless Innet and YWO. It would be morbid for me to live before Innet and YWO were invented.:)

I totally agree! ^^

[Serieve]

The question of why one writes troubles me, because I am always in part looking for an answer that is not personal. Not that there's anything wrong with a personal answer. I also seriously wonder why one should specialize in the humanities (this from an English major, mind you).

My own (personal) answer echoes a lot of the sentiments that have been expressed, particularly the idea of having one's vision--your entire world view--colored by writing (or language or narrative or whatever you call it). I think anyone with a passion sees the world through a lens of that passion, because that's the view that makes the world... more, for them. In the back of my head, I'm always thinking of writing.

Sometimes though, I feel like I should be ashamed of myself for thinking like a writer, because instead of seeing the world for itself, I see the world as an ends to the art of writing. When I'm talking to people, there's always this... detached writer analyzing everything, looking for little details and things to steal.

The thing is, I'm don't feel ashamed--at all. I just think maybe I should. >.>

Seeing the world that way isn't entirely bad though. It also means that I have an avid hunger to know things (because I'm always thinking I can put it in a story). I listen more closely (for story) and see more (for story) and taste and feel and smell more (for story). Everything I experience is more vivid, because the writer in me is always paying more attention.

Also, I stopped writing for five years. Before I stopped, I was so absentminded, I was afraid that I'd learn to drive, and then daydream myself into the other lane. I felt like I was... disrespecting the world around me, I guess. I basically ignored everybody around me in favor of fantasizing about another world that didn't even exist. And that felt wrong, so I stopped. (The fact that writers don't make much was also a big factor, I should add.)

When I started again (about a year ago, now), I noticed a huge difference. It was like I'd been going through the motions. I was a college student who didn't know what she wanted or where she was going. So realizing that I wanted to write was... a great relief.

[Croation Masochist]

The question of why one writes troubles me, because I am always in part looking for an answer that is not personal. Not that there's anything wrong with a personal answer. I also seriously wonder why one should specialize in the humanities (this from an English major, mind you).

My own (personal) answer echoes a lot of the sentiments that have been expressed, particularly the idea of having one's vision--your entire world view--colored by writing (or language or narrative or whatever you call it). I think anyone with a passion sees the world through a lens of that passion, because that's the view that makes the world... more, for them. In the back of my head, I'm always thinking of writing.

Sometimes though, I feel like I should be ashamed of myself for thinking like a writer, because instead of seeing the world for itself, I see the world as an ends to the art of writing. When I'm talking to people, there's always this... detached writer analyzing everything, looking for little details and things to steal.

The thing is, I'm don't feel ashamed--at all. I just think maybe I should. >.>

Seeing the world that way isn't entirely bad though. It also means that I have an avid hunger to know things (because I'm always thinking I can put it in a story). I listen more closely (for story) and see more (for story) and taste and feel and smell more (for story). Everything I experience is more vivid, because the writer in me is always paying more attention.

Also, I stopped writing for five years. Before I stopped, I was so absentminded, I was afraid that I'd learn to drive, and then daydream myself into the other lane. I felt like I was... disrespecting the world around me, I guess. I basically ignored everybody around me in favor of fantasizing about another world that didn't even exist. And that felt wrong, so I stopped. (The fact that writers don't make much was also a big factor, I should add.)

When I started again (about a year ago, now), I noticed a huge difference. It was like I'd been going through the motions. I was a college student who didn't know what she wanted or where she was going. So realizing that I wanted to write was... a great relief.

I just wanted to say that I understand how you feel about all of this. It is much like I used to (not as much now) act, except I'm never able to articulate it like you have.

[lalodragon]

Why I started writing:
I have been surrounded by books since I was tiny. I learned to read at two because no one had time to read to me. Since then I was taught that I was advanced, gifted, talented. But what was I talented in? I was just smart all over, right? Which is very nice but I had nothing which I was really, really good at except reading. Hence writing.
We moved very much then; I had no friends for long. The longest were five years, but actually after three years we were distant. A diary organized things, I could take it everywhere. And a diary was a place to complain, which I did a lot of. I was relatively normal, and for attention (other people weren't normal and got attention) I wrote, blabbed, and hugged people.
First a diary, when I was very little. My dad was in Africa and I kept a diary for him to read when he got home. Then I read Dear America books and decided that I had to have a diary and publish it and be famous. Dad read Tolkien to me at six or seven, and around that time I started writing stories. Characters replaced the stuffed animals I had made lives for. I acted these stories out in my room as I wrote them (I was six!).
But I don't really count all that. A few stories surfaced which are decent, but my diaries are illegible and complaining, and for a little while were "so she's like __ + I'm like lol". As far as I'm concerned, I didn't start writing until I was 10. My diary says "I have discovered I have a talent for writing poetry". I discovered this on a car trip to Tennessee, a long car trip without my brothers, only my Dad and I. (On this trip I bought some of my favourite books.) I still write the most on trips, and alone and in silence. My poems weren't any good, were chewed and rhythm-less reproductions of whatever I read, of Frost, Wilcox and various hymns. But I got better; I kept on in poetry. I was never really writing until I was writing poetry.

I wrote first for Dad to read. Sometimes he was away or in the hospital or just at work. Writing "bridged the distance". I wrote, too, because of the books he gave me or read to me. This changed: at some point I was writing for mom to approve of (what else would she approve of?), because of the poems she exposed me to. But now I write for myself, or for Dad, and don't let them read it. And I don't know that they would approve of all of it.

So why do I write now? I don't honestly know. I couldn't stop. Writing basically brought me through childhood and I can't/won't stop now. I still write for my parents in a way, or for all the people I respect. I still write because I can write decently and I cannot do anything else so well. (Not well enough to go to college for it, though psychology is looking up.) I write because I read, I love reading, especially because I read poetry.
I mostly write because I love everything I see, it's all so beautiful (yes, sappy, I know)-- not beautiful so much as interesting. Beautiful places and interesting people. I have to write them. I make it concrete in a poem before I forget it, or I would forget it, and I don't want to. And hopefully I can help others to remember it.
I am obsessed with language and the beauty and the syntax and the flow of language. "stupid little roads" and "it bloats/into bigness and swells/into size, and it smells..." Rhymes and rhythms and assonance. It's the most beautiful and interesting thing.
Everything is absurd, now, except that process: making poetry of life. I look at life as a vehicle for poetry. Poetry will dictate what I read, what I major in, what job I take, who I marry, and if I have children. Everything is absurd except the absurd metaphor.

I could talk a long time about why poems and not stories, but it would be a very long post. (This already the longest, clearest essay I've ever written about myself.) My stories are awful and my poems are (see above) life.

[Rurikredwolf]

I started to write simply because I had all of these ideas and I wanted to get them out.

At least, that's the simple version.

I don't know exactly why I started writing, but I think it started from the abuse I had when I was younger. I think I turned to the realm of my creation to escape for a bit before being forcibly dragged back to reality. I started off with Fanfiction, but then I realized that I sucked at fanfiction and went to writing my own original things. I broke through that and went to original things.

I also write because I enjoy it and I enjoy having people tell me how the feel on it. I am a very big feedback hound and I always search for ways to improve, which is why I came to this site.

Yeah.

[Strawberry-Milk]

Why do you write?: It makes me happy and feel like my life is not some waste of space. I know that sounds sappy, but it's true. Writing is an escape too. I feel better when I can escape into a world that is the way I want it to be.

Why do you write prose?: I have tried my hand at poetry, and let's just say, I stink. I stink pretty much at writing prose too, but I prefer prose to poetry, so I'm practicing.

[graystripe79]

Was there anything specific that appealed to you about writing the book?

I dont know...I think it was the fact that finally all the make believe characters that had once been locked in my head, finally had an escape. Finally, I found an outlit that let me...declutter my head.