A bit of a perplexing question for those of you who do write, and perhaps those who do not. As a writer, why do you write? Or if you aren't a writer and simply know others, why do they write?

The question has really been drilled into my head a lot lately, as I had two older literature classes last semester before I graduated from University. Almost all of the literature was written before the mid 20th century. And throughout everything that we read, including poems, narratives, and dramas, there was always a comment element. The author was trying to get across a certain point, be it through subtle hints or outright criticism. Even novels that were claimed to have been written for entertainment contained some sort of grand narrative that it contested.

Nowadays, novels and literature do not always do this. There are many that are simply meant to be read totally as entertainment, and possibly shine light on a couple of life lessons. There are still those that contest the grand narratives of life, but there are just as many now that do not.

So, why do writers write, and how has this changed throughout the last 100 or so years?

Oh, what a question! This is the kind of thing I'd think of as a dissertation topic. (I've just been working on my diss stuff, so I have research on the brain.)

When I write nonfiction, writing about music, anime, films, etc., I do it because there's a problem I want to solve, or a question I want to answer: How does X scene work? Why did composer A choose to do this, at this point? What impact has film Z had on audiences, and on subsequent films? Things that can be worked through in prose.

When I write fiction, I do so for my own pleasure. However, I know that I impose my worldview on what I write, as does anyone else. Perhaps what we see in early twentieth-century fiction as a moral point or a message or a grand narrative is actually what for that era was common knowledge? Let's take, let's say, the Twilight books. They abound with morals and value judgments, standards of behavior, ethics, symbolism and other messages. Whether or not Stephanie Meyer intended to prioritize the binary male/female heteronormative lifestyle, where the females cook, clean, and nurture while the males hunt, protect, and conquer (think, even, of Bella's first hunt as a vampire: she protects the people her vampire nature otherwise tells her to kill), she still does through the choices she makes, through what she has her characters do or not do, through Bella's thoughts and decisions.

Another example: slash fanfiction. Male/male or female/female pairings -- their very existence in fanfiction speaks to their marginal status in regular literature. Sure, you can find yaoi/yuri stories in Japanese manga, and (though I don't know much about this) perhaps filtering over into young adult literature or graphic novels. But mainstream? Definitely not. We even use a foreign term, borrowed from Japanese, to describe the two, rather than "gay fiction" or "lesbian fiction," which have other connotations. Someone choosing to write gay/lesbian fiction, then, is making a stance, sending a message.

Perhaps what was happening in the early twentieth and late nineteenth centuries had to do more with the fact that standards, morals, and social codes were rapidly changing, and so to write about a character doing anything but following a mid-nineteenth-century novel meant automatically taking a stance. Fortunately, society is more open now than it was then, so writers can take their characters and situations into places that the nineteenth century would have viewed as scandalous, or moralizing.

But to answer your original question: I think that many writers write because they want to tell a story, or explore a topic. And there's also a differentiation that we might want to make: writers of "disposable fiction," like Harlequin romances or dime novels $6.99 industrial thrillers, versus those who are writing for posterity, or to make an artistic stance.

I think there were probably a lot of novels/literature that didn't have a grand political/cultural statement in the 20th century (and earlier). It's just that we don't read them in class or as a society much because they didn't stand the test of time or simply don't serve as an insight into the past. So, really, I'm not sure it's changed at all. Certainly styles, morals, and political stances have changed, but as far as imposing themes/views as opposed to simply telling a story I don't think anything has changed. It's just that we only get a select few pieces of literature from any earlier era as opposed to the bulk that was written.
(Granted, I do agree with anime_scholar that everyone puts a bit of their own views into their work, be it consciously or not.)


Personally, I write because I enjoy it and I feel like I've got a story to tell, even if it's only to myself. I also write because I like to tell stories to other people, though I rarely seem to share them. That may be a little contradictory, but ah well.
I also write because I have friends who I like to write with. Mostly, I suppose, I just write because I have fun with it. That's probably not the best or most noble reason to write, but, again, ah well.

People always get mad at me when I say this, but writers write because they can -- it's something that everyone wants to do because everyone has at least one book in them. Sometimes people put limits and inhibitions, other people have other reasons for keeping stories inside of them instead of unleashing it on paper, but people who can, write...

Well, a lot of people can write, but how many people can continue writing the same story over and over again -- i.e., edit? How many people are willing to work with the text as though it were clay, pushing and pulling bits until everything fits? I personally don't think it's so much an issue of being *able* to commit a story to paper/electrons, but being willing to then work on it after the first draft is done.

Originally Posted by anime_scholar

Well, a lot of people can write, but how many people can continue writing the same story over and over again -- i.e., edit? How many people are willing to work with the text as though it were clay, pushing and pulling bits until everything fits? I personally don't think it's so much an issue of being *able* to commit a story to paper/electrons, but being willing to then work on it after the first draft is done.

Editing and writing are two different spheres -- a lot of people who can write can't edit and there are people who can edit, but can't write. A lot of writers need an editor to tame them because they'll go all over the place in very interesting tangents, but forget their mandate. And then there are writers who don't really need an editor because they have the discipline to do it right in one take. Speaking as someone who has had three published books, newspaper columns, and who wrote journal and magazine articles as a journalist, I don't like fussing with re-writes because I get to the point right away, but I don't mind someone else checking my grammar because my thinking moves much faster than what my fingers can type.

You publish first drafts, then? I write in academia, and I usually have at least four drafts, from start to finish (with lots of copying and pasting, of course, once I get part of the argument really set), of each essay.

I almost always need a beta, becuase I tend to go all over the place and have a lot of plot twists, and it gets confusing. I'd love to be super-focused, but sadly, it's not something in my nature.
I agree with anime_scholar, though i don't do multiple drafts, I'm always going back and reviewing and re-editing my work, sometimes five and six times, until i get the desired flow, and I read out loud if I'm stuck. Pisses off the roommate, but it's worth it.

The story I'm working on I started trying to tell someone I love them and how much they mean to me by crating two characters to represent us. It's taken off surprisingly well (though the girl it was aimed at still is completely oblivious to it, and she'd probably kill me if I told her about it).

Great question! I'm not exactly sure how to answer it, though.

Let me try with this:
I like to write because of passion. I tend to be shy, and writing is a way to get my messages through. Writing is also entertainment-not only for the reader but for the writer as well. Whenever I'm bored, writing is a really good way to keep myself busy.

I'm not too sure about 100 years ago, but that's pretty much all I got. :)

For me, I write as stress relief, entertainment, to express myself...it depends on my mood. I could write so that I can read it back as a way to accept that this is what I'm going through, not just what the fictional character is going through, just as easily as I could write simply for fun, or stress relief. Plus, I just love writing. I can come up with stories just *snaps* like that, I have been since I was little. So that's another reason. I write because I grew up with it.

But as I said, it always depends on my mood.

Why do I write? I wan to destroy and recreate the foundations of fictional media. That and sometimes when there's nothing but pure crap on the TV, I'd like to write something that's more to my tastes that I find entertaining. Sometimes I'd like to take a scene and write it differently (not in a fan fiction sense though)...

I write because it is the only thing I'm good at AND I can get money for it.

I write because stories come into my mind and they won't leave me alone until I put them on paper. Seriously, I spend a good half of my time at work being perplexed by ideas. I've been crafting a story for over ten years now and it probably won't leave me until I share it with other people somehow.

I think for me it's more like "These are the characters I want to share with the world, and this is what happens to them" There are some morals that I want to share in there as well, but they came after the characters and the story, they've kind of melded in to it.

Originally Posted by Sho-Shonojo

I write because stories come into my mind and they won't leave me alone until I put them on paper. Seriously, I spend a good half of my time at work being perplexed by ideas. I've been crafting a story for over ten years now and it probably won't leave me until I share it with other people somehow.

I think for me it's more like "These are the characters I want to share with the world, and this is what happens to them" There are some morals that I want to share in there as well, but they came after the characters and the story, they've kind of melded in to it.

That's pretty much how it is for me. I've been planning a story for five years. Some of these characters, I'm constantly working with, watching their lives unfold as though I was watching a movie. I haven't written much lately, but I never stop creating their story. It's not so much that I have a moral I want to share, but rather I've created characters and they have demanded that I share their story with the world.

Rewrites are really tedious and I harly never bother with them. Most of the time when I write their story I write it the way I wanted it to sound. I only bother with changing the wording or adding someting if I have literaly changed how the story goes. To me, I'm literally writing what I see so I can't just change the wording of something, because that would be betraying the story of my characters. Grammar/spell check, however, I try to make sure that it hits whatever I write. Whether it's the computer checking, or a family member.

It's a good question especially for people like me who write more fiction works. I write mainly because I am told that I have to write. I feel like it's a calling of mine and it's something that I am meant to do. It helps me relax and it also helps keep me sane by allowing some of my crazier thoughts to be put onto paper. I also love it as an escape from reality. I can put myself int he middle of a story I am writing and become the characters and be in a land or a time and place that I would never be able to visit in reality.

That's my answer and I am sticking to it. XD

Originally Posted by scholar

You publish first drafts, then? I write in academia, and I usually have at least four drafts, from start to finish (with lots of copying and pasting, of course, once I get part of the argument really set), of each essay.

It depends. I have written for both -- I usually spend a longer time thinking before I actually sit down and write, and when I do, I can do it fairly fast. Rewriting can finesse, but it can also water down what you truly want to say, too...

I personally write because it's fun. I love spinning stories in my head and watching how characters interact, and how they muddle through perplexing situations. I know that I should be saying things that are really deep and meaningful, and who knows, maybe when I'm older, those deep and meaningful things might become my reason to write. But right now, it's a pastime that makes up my life. Ideas are always spinning round and round my head, I figure get them written down before they float off into the stratosphere. ^^

I like putting my emotions about events and items on paper. It's just how I release some feelings I have sometimes, some people have a journal or blog, I have a poetry sketchbook. Also, I have a large imagination, and it just seems to personify itself in writing the most. I just love letting my head spin for a while, and making up this idea that I can only describe in literature, every time I put something out like that, I always wonder what the reader thinks about when they see it.

Sometimes I don't even know why I write stuff...but it's probably mostly because of "the urge to write" and get things "off my chest" or "out of my system" .....

Other times it's like others have said....being unsatisfied with a lot of the media out there - personally, as a female, I feel it's even harder to find stuff that I can actually enjoy and care about...it's not that I can't ever enjoy stuff that a male obviously made or wrote but there doesn't seem to be enough stuff out there created by women or it's hard for me to find when I'm not specifically hunting for it...(you know what I mean? does that make any sense?)

I got into wanting to make games from being awed and inspired by other people's games, many games are too hard or more for guys than they are for girls....it's a shame that they don't import more variety (especially from Japan since they have such large variety of games) over here to / in the states.

True, we got Katamari Damancy (sp.?) and other games but there's still so many games out there like Giftpia and the Angelique series that are probably never going to be translated and come to America and other places....

I kinda feel the same way about my writing - what good books that are out there inspire me to want to try and write my own.

I used to write a lot more when I was in high school, and that was basically because my head was churning with ideas that I just wanted to get out, be it fanfiction or original fiction. When I entered college, I didn't really have the time anymore. I still dreamed up ideas and what not, but my focus was on schoolwork. Now, I'm in my fourth year of college, and after discussing with my cousin/younger brother the details of a story idea I've had since I was 15 (when I first started to write) I'm finally ready to start writing.

So why? Because over time I've come to absolutely adore/love my characters and their stories and I'm eager to share their stories with others to entertain them/discover their opinions. I, simply put, want to tell stories for entertainment.

I personally write for fun. Normally, my stories start as boredom in school or just plain boredom, and turn into something that I follow and write and expand, until I have a fairly good sized book. After I start a story, it just expands and it gets more and more fun writing it, maybe even more fun than reading it!

I know every writer chooses to write for a variety or reasons, ranging from entertainment to life lessons. But personally I write for self expression; to breath life into my dreams or thoughts. It's a way for me to get my feelings out and clear my mind. It is something I enjoy, almost as much as I enjoy reading. To me both things go hand in hand, perhaps one day I will pursue editing, or writing as a career.

Originally Posted by Cheya

Why do I write? I wan to destroy and recreate the foundations of fictional media. That and sometimes when there's nothing but pure crap on the TV, I'd like to write something that's more to my tastes that I find entertaining. Sometimes I'd like to take a scene and write it differently (not in a fan fiction sense though)...

That's what I'd like to do. XD I watch some great shows on TV (great in my opinion, like Supernatural, Criminal Minds...). But those are the ONLY shows I'll actually watch on TV, besides a little Grey's Anatomy or a little House. Usually just the investigative or medical dreams are what I like. And Supernatural, a horror drama action show, really pulled me in when I started watching only a year ago.

But besides those, all I see is CRAP on TV. Like, Glee (entirely my opinion, but all I've seen is cheesy acting and typical high school problems). And I especially hate shows and books and movies about relationship angst.

Now, I'm always blocked. I actually never write because I'm just too paranoid to even do a DRAFT cuz I'm a perfectionist, and I stress when thinking about characters' personalities, cuz I'm thinking about flaws, traits, all that jazz, like it's some LOGICAL problem, when it's not. I don't see why I can't just simply type up a paragraph and judge the characters' good and bad traits after reading it to myself. I feel like I have to give every character this super long typical profile with one-dimensional personalities...

Anyway, I know what I DON'T want in anything I'd write. I DON'T want relationship drama, parents divorcing...I know gaia writers have said it's relateable, but...Part of me doesn't CARE about the audience.

I've enjoyed books that had nothing to do with typical high school problems. Just because my characters are seniors and juniors in high school doesn't mean they HAVE to go through average problems. What about college stress, or state test stress, or work stress...?

That is what I stress about. Not guys or relationships or sex. The things I stress about are college, actually writing this book down (I actually want it to be an animated show OR a movie), and my GPA of 2.8.

I'm sure the audience would be impressed to see a teen that stresses over something LESS common, like her GPA, college searching, watching her friends grow up and know where they want to go, and feeling like she HAS to be in a hurry to grow up.

A very good, yet difficult to answer question. I write because I have always liked writing. I like to see how far i've come from a few years ago and also like seeing my characters develop as I go. Writing is also a very good median for my creativity. I like to see how I describe my characters, plot lines settings, I and character interactions. The more detail the more I find that a story will come to life and captivate a reader.

Another reason I write is because sometimes I have nothing better to do. Writing takes time, which i seem to have too much of. I don't watch TV and I don't play video games during the week so there is nothing to do between the time I get home from school to the time I go to bed.

Now back to characters. Character creation and development has been a HUGE hobby of mine. I create characters for Roleplays (which can be a for of writing for me... kind of like joint writing with other people) and I create them for my own enjoyment. I have probably created about 20-25 different characters throughout the last 5 years. The detail that needs to go into a character is profound yet it can be extremely easy once an idea strikes you.

I am infact writing a book right now and will probably finish a few years from now due to school, the fact that I can't pay attention to anything for an extended period of time (.... could have just said A.D.D but I have not technically been diagnosed with it but whatever), a job (hopefully), and the fact that it sometimes takes me a while for a good thought to come to me for a good plot idea.

Anyways~. That is the end of my little rant. XP

I write because I like telling stories. It's a way for me to create my own sort of world, where I am allowed to make or break whatever it is that I come up with. I like having the ability to create an entire dimension with just words. I like having the feeling that I'm doing something useful - that I have the ability to do something without it being a complete waste. And I like entertaining. Not just people who read it, but myself as well. Writing is just a fun, creative way to express any kind of feelings you may be experiencing, and it grants you a basis of stability and control in a world that has none.