There appears to be a flurry of writing threads in these parts. I wanted to start something that would bring together these disparate albeit similar parts in a practical manner to form a more coherent group so that we may all learn from one another instead of holding up signs with the dire want of acknowledgment.
This is a discussion thread hosted by Gantic (and the nonexistent Author's Guild). This will not be a discussion about a particular piece of writing by a writer but more generally about writing and the writer. I am hoping to get some productive discussion from writers here on Armor Games.
Discussion will be on various topics and may changed weekly, biweekly, however long a discussion needs. This will mostly (or most likely) be about prose but other forms of writings may also be discussed.
To start off: Why do you write? What do you want from writing?
The question is not "Why do you like to write?" Rather, it is "Why do you write?"
Please keep posts relevant. Posts should be relevant to the current discussion or a previous discussion.
Responses should be constructive. While we'd all like to be frank, there is a line between tactful and blunt. Keep in mind that not everyone is of the same disposition or age.
Also keep in mind that we're all amateurs here unless someone is writing professionally. Nevertheless, each opinion carries the same weight regardless of whether you disagree or not or how much you admire or despise someone. Please consider how something applies to you and not blindly accept or reject advice or opinion. An opinion is never a fact even if everyone thinks the same thing.
If you have any ideas for future discussions, leave a comment on my profile. Meanwhile, consider, discuss, learn!
Good idea, Gantic. Hmm, why do I write... I find it easier than drawing for one. Somehow you need a certain level of skill to get your idea from your mind to the paper, and that is a skill I still do not possess. Thus writing. It is a little faster, and often more precise than drawing. Painting with the words, I guess. I usually lack the ability to get real emotions into my drawings, which means there is almost no rage inspired drawings made by me, simply because being angry or sad blocks my already lacking ability to draw. Writing is more natural to me, where I can rage out or be as depressed as I care. I think the urge to write has evolved for some years now, as I never was very good at writing (or reading for that matter), but... It is getting better.
To put it simple: I write because I cannot not write.
I'm not a huge writer but I have started writing a lot more since coming here. It is great for subjecting your own feelings (especially if your angry about something). If I'm angry about something I'll transfer it too a character which sounds abit weird writing it here but it seems to work. I also find it is a very quick way to while away the hours I can write all afternoon and barely notice, which is great if it is raining (which is more often than not)
Why do I write... well, it's the same reason for why I draw. I like to entertain people. Ever since I was a little munchkin no bigger than a breadbox (no, I'm just kidding, I was about 5), I love to entertain people. Whether it's my laughter (as a baby), jokes (as a 9 year old or so), and drawings/writings. I've always had so many weird thoughts... and then they disappear in the matter of sec- whoops, going off track, sorry ^^;
No really, I just like writing and drawing simply because I enjoy seeing people read the stories/look at the picture and be entertained by it. I also want to become a game designer because I like to entertain people, I'd help people all cross the world be entertained!
Now then, to discuss....
To put it simple: I write because I cannot not write.
I'm having a little trouble understanding, but I think you're saying that because you have the inability to write, you wanna learn to write?
I write because, for me, it's the superior form of artistry. Detail, creating a fictional world, etc. is superior and more precise than crafting a single image. OR, because I want to entertain. And if I get a zany idea, putting it into writing can flesh it out far more than it would if it just knocked aro und in my mind. I want a way to put concepts and loose ideas to paper and in a way, make them more real. I'm unconventional by my process- I think of a single phrase and write a story that includes it. ------ Fish cheez-it flower book explosive /nonlinearism
I have only submitted a fraction of my writings to AG, but I'll still give my two cents.
My writings are memoirs and thus I write to record significant events in my life. I find that in the process of writing prior events, you are able to analyse what you did more effectively, and learn from your mistakes and successes.
I'm having a little trouble understanding, but I think you're saying that because you have the inability to write, you wanna learn to write?
Uhm, count the nots, huh? "Cannot not" Double negative. But just for you, Thoad: "I write because I can't live without writing!!". Or: I cannot not write.
Last one before I go back to class: Interestingly enough I've kept my writings and the material I have on here almost exclusively separate. Most likely because there is a huge proliferation of writing on these forums so I'd rather not add to the flow, but instead concentrate on projects that you will learn all about in the near future...fufufufu~
Anyway.
Why do you write? What do you want from writing?
I write for the same reasons I draw- because I have a story to tell. As is frequently described it starts off with a kernel and then it grows, and then I start tinkering with it and it goes from there. Well, I suppose that isn't the reason so much as the precipitant. The ultimate reason I write is because I like to play with my mind (and sometimes share the results), and writing happens to be one way in which to do this.
So that's the first question answered as directly as I can do it, so now for a ramble which addresses everything else:
I don't regard myself as exclusively a writer or an artist or a musician or anything since I do all three, though I've only had formal training in music. Of these, I would say I'm least confident of my aptitude for writing because when I was younger, my English comprehension was poor and remained poor until I knuckled down and tried to nut it out at the end of high school. I was generally made to feel that my writing was, well, mercurial because throughout childhood on occasion I apparently wrote brilliant stories and other times it was rubbish, and I couldn't tell the difference between the two. It's hard to figure out the opinions of adults when you're young.
Ironically, I've probably written more than I've drawn mainly due to space constraints- I kept a personal journal and by the time I got too busy to regularly update it, there was some 2 million words in it- I think I wrote close to 3 essays/articles/stories a week for four years.
Essentially what I get out of writing is that it's different from drawing. The thought process. Then again I am fond of thinking cinematically, so I head in that direction because I have not the time to animate, as of yet.
Writing if one of my passions, as corny as it seems. What really bad is lately I haven't been writing. I also have a passion for reading.
Why do I like to write? Because I can show the reader another world, and let them bask in the imagination, and thought that I have triggered.
Why do I write? Because I can't draw. Basically, I have this great imagination, but I can't draw what I am thinking. So I write.
Apparently I am good. I sure hope so. I am great at writing, but I don't want to seem up myself, which I used to be. I would like to be a humble magician, playing with fire.
I write because I can.
This is just a observation, but all of the users that have posted on this thread, but me and Gantic, have at least 1000 posts.
At least initially, the OP counts a lot as to who writes in a thread. We recognise Gantic as a substantial contributor to this forum and the post is content rich, so those who engage it are likely to follow a certain profile.
I write because I like to. I write because it helps me understand who I am and what I am doing in this world.
Writing has helped me a lot in the past to be able to work out what I am thinking and what I should do next. Writing has made me more aware of how other people think, because in writing about them, I have to think about what they are going through.
Writing has been a -how to say- emotional outlet for me I guess. I can write things and let out my feelings. And then I don't have to share what I write, I can keep it too myself and no one else will ever know about it.
I write because it gets me recognition from people. For example, after I went through a significant emotional event in my life, I wrote some poems on it (and then read them out...making a girl who was directly involved cry) which were wanted to be read by quite a few different people.
But really, the idea of writing to become popular isn't something I aim for (slightly contradicting my last paragraph...I know) although I do like to get the praise from people telling me that it is good.
"Yes, it's hard to write, but it's harder not to."
There is no more concrete way to express emotions short of telepathy than singing. Singing puts as much emotion behind words as writing does if not more, but writing can go beyond just emotion to describe the most mundane object. Maybe they can be sung, but I am not musically inclined.
Why I write is similar to what I want from writing. I find writing as good as an expressive tool as any other but it is much more reserved and allows for introspection much more. It is easier to pore over words in an ever-present medium. It comes much more easily to me than anything else even if much more disorganized. Writing can convey the instances attached to something like candied ginger in as many tangents as the mind allows, in as many tangents as the mind does follow.
I like words, I like wordplay, how they fit together, how they are related. They are linguistic atoms. And I like constructing stuff from its base parts and what better way to construct a though than with writing? It comes so easily. It is so readily available. Pencil? Pen? Keyboard? I used to write because I had stories to tell but now I am so engrossed with the word, the thought, the atomism. There might have been some naive dreams of fame some six or seven years ago, but now I can't help writing if I think I have a good idea however poorly fleshed out it may be.
I think in words, so I express in (written) words.
This is just a observation, but all of the users that have posted on this thread, but me and Gantic, have at least 1000 posts.
Others should post here too. I am not a popular persona but I am hoping this thread isn't just "elite".
All right, so I somehow messed up my Firefox and right justified the text box and it's making me a little crazy, so I'll end my post here.
I believe it was Michaelangelo that said that whenever he was sculpting he pictured the final product imprisoned in the block of marble that he would work on. And I think that is the impetus that has caused me to write, not just to like it but to do it spontaneously. Everything I do has some sort of spontaneity to it where I don't labor over making the product, I see the final product and chip it out with whatever I have. There are two different arts besides sculpting that really exemplify this approach, I believe, and those two are music and writing.
From the morass of notes and words in my mind, how can I find a finished product? I really don't know. But somehow, in bouts of epiphany, I can see visions of my work flash here and there. Whenever I write a poem, it's always some couplet that gets arises from the inner regions of my brain that repeats itself over and over again and helps to power the liberation of the whole poem. There's something so subtly exhilarating and pleasurable from this tiny fragment, like a feather tickling my feet, sweeping over my soles over and over again, that causes me to write, and by corollary to enjoy writing as well.
This question might be trivial but if the original motivation for writing was satisfied or simply faded, would there still be some reason to write?
Sometimes I find myself wanting to finish something but I simply can't. The reason to write is sometimes so strong that it carries some momentum. Often that momentum doesn't carry me over the hump but the fact that there is momentum pushes me to continue even though there is that inkling of failure. It's like racing around a track. The finish line is always in sight but I just don't make it across.
How long does an idea last? Does it go out like a brief candle? Is there still light enough to work?
