Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls Why Do You Write?

Count me as another who tells herself stories when she's waiting to fall asleep. Often, I replay bits of fanfics or episodes and then take them in the direction I want them to go in.

And Lynn, I've had that same desert island thought, too. We have a radio program over here called Desert Island Disks, where guests get to choose the eight records they'd like to have with them if they got stranded on a desert island. They also get to choose a luxury, and I've often thought mine would be an unlimited supply of paper and pens. The craft, creativity and escapism of writing would keep me happy for a long time.

Yvonne

Oh no, that's a different thing, Kathy. I've been there, too, having bits of my current WIP pop into my head just as I'm falling asleep and either having to trust to the fact that I'll remember it all in the morning, when I can get it down (guess how many times I don't? ) or get up out of bed and jot it down there and then because I know it will be gone by morning.

What I was talking about earlier though is completely different. Those stories I never intend to write down, ever. It's not like writing a story I'm intending to write, snippets of scenes or portions of dialogue.

It's more like having a movie running in my head. I put the characters of my favourite TV show into a situation and then watch how they deal with it. It's like switching a VCR on in my head and letting it run. I usually fall asleep before I get to the end of the 'movie' and pick it up where I left off the previous night. Often, I play around with all the various permutations of how the characters might react or how events might fall out. Hours of entertainment.


LabRat

I often put myself to sleep at night imagining a scene. Usually, though, I'm imagining something I'm working on or starting to dream the next thing I write, but what I'm doing is shortening the writing process by creating a movie in my head. Since I don't have the stress of having to find words for the scene, I can work through it dozens of times, trying to figure out what the characters are saying to each other and just enjoying the process.

My luxury item would be unlimited paper and pens, too, Yvonne. In fact, that's what I take with me on the houseboat for a week--an empty notebook, a copy of the last 20 pages I've written, and several pens. However difficult it is to translate a completely visual experience into language, I love it. I'm perfectly happy sitting in the shade on the deck of our boat, writing on a story, working on backstory or character profiles, editing my rough draft. It's hard, but I love it. Kind of like my daily 4-mile walk in the summer. Four miles is tiring for me, but it's pleasurable to use my body the way it was designed to be used, and I think writing uses my mind the way it was made to work.

These "mental stories" so many of you spoke of struck a chord with me. Ever since I was really young, before going to sleep, I would turn out the lights and make up stories in my head. It relaxed me, and I enjoyed it. I still do it sometimes when I'm having a hard time falling asleep.

However, I made the unfortunate choice to tell one of my cousins about this when I think I was maybe 7 or 8...and she laughed at me. I am so relieved to hear that I'm not the only person on this planet who does that sort of thing

Yup, count me in too on those mental stories - been doing it ever since I was a little kid. Very few of those end up as fanfic, mostly because lots of them are little more than Mary Sues.

I think it's pretty normal, really!


Wendy

LOL, Wendy. I've been trying to explain to myself the difference between fanfic and mind stories since my last post and this pretty much nails it for me.

I definitely think they're more personal fantasies than fanfic. On paper they wouldn't make a lick of sense and quite often I'll bend characterisation etc. to suit myself. As I never intend to write these stories I don't have to play by the normal rules and can pretty much do as I please.

LabRat

Just popped in to check how the poll was going, and I haven't read through everyone's responses yet, but I wanted to say -- for the second question, I voted that I would probably keep writing, but it wouldn't be as much fun. And that's not exactly it. I will keep on making up stories; I can't avoid that, really. There's always that "what if" machine churning away; most of the stuff isn't useful, but every once in a while I get something I like enough to pursue.

With an appreciative audience waiting, I'll do the hard work to get all the plot details worked out and write the transitions between scenes. Without one... I'd probably only write "the good parts" -- the scenes that show up demanding to be written. I'd write those, but not worry too much about continuing the story or transitioning between scenes; I know all that stuff, so why bore myself by repeating it?

At any rate, that's how I used to write, before I had an audience. I'd create elaborate landscapes and lots of characters, and have lots of thrilling plots... and very little of it got written down, beyond notes and lists and "the good parts". (And houseplans. For some reason I really liked drawing houseplans ) Maybe it'd be different now, since I've had all this experience and have a higher standard to shoot for. But I think having an audience makes a big difference in how hard I work at telling a story. They keep me from taking shortcuts, I guess.

I don't know if that makes me a "writer" by your standards, Lynn. But I know I am a story-teller, and writing is my preferred medium. And I figure that's good enough to go on with.

PJ

Well, now that I'm here, I've been poking around and found this poll and thought it was quite interesting.

My answer to the first question was: for self-gratification, to fill a need, for entertainment and because I can't NOT write.

It's really a combintion of all of those things. Sometimes I do it just for fun, to play with an idea or character or situation. Sometimes I do it because I have this idea and I can't believe no one else has done it and I just have to get it down on paper so I can read it. I definitely enjoy it (most of the time, anyway) so I get pleasure from it. And although there are times I go months without writing for whatever reason (usually because I'm blocked or frustrated) eventually I always wind up writing again.

As for the second question, I would absolutely (and have quite frequently) write stories purely for myself with no intention of sharing them with others. Sometimes when I finish I send them to select friends I think might enjoy them. But it's not at all unusual for me to have stories or parts of stories on my harddrive for years without publishing them in some form or sharing them with others.

I've been writing for as long as I can remember. When I was six, I dragged everything out of the hall closet, put in a desk, a chair and a stack of paper, and hung a sign on the door that said "Annie's Writing Room. Do not disturb." When I was eleven I decided I wanted to be a journalist. At twelve I wrote my first full-length novel. (A novel, btw, which is HYSTERICAL to read now. Also illustrated with photos cut from teen magazines. Very professional. <G>) At fifteen I started my high school's newspaper. Etc, etc.

All my life I've been a writer. Throughout all the changes in my life, that is the one thing that has stayed constant.

I really hope that someday I will have some published novels. I have a bunch of crime/romance plots running around in my head, including one I'm working on writing now. And for years I've been toying with the idea of writing a fictionalized memoir. I have bits and pieces of it written.

But if no one ever reads my stories, if no company ever publishes them, I'm sure I'll keep writing. Because I don't think I know how to quit.

There wasn't a "For money" option, though I suppose fame and applause come close. I've wanted to get paid for writing for a while and have finally achieved that. Last month I submitted two stories to "True Confessions" magazine. This month I queried them about a feature article (non-fiction). They requested the feature article and last Friday I received a contract in the mail for one of the stories. "True Confessions" isn't a magazine I normally read, but I did my homework and learned that they accept unsolicited manuscripts. I bought a few copies, studies them and then bit the bullet and sent something in.

I enjoy writing and do a lot of writing that will never be submitted anywhere. It's just putting my thoughts and emotions on paper. But I also enjoy doing research on something, pulling together all the tiny little pieces and weaving a coherent article from it.

Great poll!

Lois & Clark/fanfiction was the genre that helped me discover my inner writing. Lois & Clark helped me discover my love for journalism. I'd also enjoyed reading the newspaper as a kid (my younger sister just thought I was trying to be like my dad ) but after watching LnC, then I knew why.

I HATED writing growing up. Then I took a Creative Writing course in college, and realized there was so much more to it.

I basically write because it's in my blood. My grandfather whom I never met (because he died when my dad was 16) was a writer. In fact, he wrote a story about his experience in World War II that made it on Playhouse 90.

I write because my muse won't shut up! I have dialoges and scenes playing throughout my head every day. Lots of plot ideas come to me while I'm by myself...while I'm relaxed. I too have those nightime movies, but those usually turn into the solution to a problem with a certain scene I'm thinking about, or a future plot line I'd like to see.

If no one read my work, I'd be fine with it, because I write because it's theraputic. My writing has helped me through many rough spots in my life. It helped me deal with feeling alone, and not having someone to love me. Now that I do have someone to love it's enriched my writing even more, and I can convey that same emotion for my characters.

I also have to admit that I write for the recognition, and applause. I'd love to be nominated for a Kerth, and win one someday...but if that never happens, I'm okay with it as well.

My writing also extends into my SOSL&C newsletter and Lord of the Rings fanzine I produce. I love working on the layout of a publication, writing articles, and working with a staff of friends. I thrive off the stress of publication deadlines, and such.

I didn't realize we could pick more than one reason in Q1 of the poll. Writing is an escape, a creative release, a part of who I am... it just is.

Would I write w/o an audience? Well, I can say yes, because I started writing fanfic at age 9 or so. I didn't know it had a name. Didn't know I was writing a Mary Sue. But it just had to be written down!

I do a lot of mental work, too, when going to sleep. I revist a favorite scene I've written, I let a new fanfic scene play out, I sometimes have to haul out of bed to write the dang thing down, in at least a skeletal form, so I can get to sleep if an idea is "really good." Often it doesn't seem that good in the morning, but I can't take the chance of missing that one great idea that was great.

I wish I had more time to actually write these days. Grading papers from by biology college seniors puts me in a sour writing mood! And the kids keep me busy. When I'm not insanely busy, I'm often totally exhausted. But even when life is too crazy to let me get the words down on paper, I continue to work on the stories in my head. I consider this to be part of the writing process, but it isn't as rewarding as actually getting the words down.

How would I survive the mundane minutes of life without mind stories and fanfic? I hope I never have to find out!

The one thing I wish I were good at that I am not is creating my own sandbox to play in. I play well in other people's sandboxes... creating my own from scratch has never worked to my satisfaction... the few ideas I did have never turned into much, even after much thought. It's frustrating. But I'm working on being grateful for the toys people have in THEIR sandboxes.

Jackie

I have no choice but to write, it's who I am. It's also a way to show what I CAN do & not have people focus so much on what I CAN'T do.

Nan, please thank your daughter for the rest of us. ) For most of the almost 9 months I was posting ML, I would only get occasional feedback ( Joan, Laurach, and Michael), but even so, it was more FDK than I'd ever received for my writing before. Now, I'm addicted. If it dried up, I'd miss it, but I'd still write.

Not only do I write for the entertainment value, I find it fun, but also because it gives me complete control (or the appearance of complete control*) over some aspect of my life. It's also a wonderful feeling to put "The End" to something (rare that that feeling is now-a-days), to see definite progress, and to have a sense of accomplishment. While I love my kids, they are a decades long WIP, and I would be in a padded room if the only sense of accomplishment I received was them going to bed the *first* time I told them to do so. (This still hasn't happened, in case you're wondering.)

* My characters actually have control on where my stories go. I try to nudge them in the correct direction, but they insist that the story has to go their way or no way, they throw up writer's blocks until I give in to them.

As a Classics Major, I envy anyone who can tell a story, which hasn't been written down. The orator or storyteller is a lost skill in recent generations. Congratulations for keeping it alive.

Me, too! I often can't keep my eyes open at my desk, and go and lie down and work through the next scene in my head (and my dreams). When I was writing 'Missing Lois', I often went to sleep having Clark calling to Lois in my mind (or vice versa) to see where it would lead. Glad to see I'm not the only crazy one out there. It is disappointing though when I go to write it down the next day and the ideas I generated at this restful point were suddenly gone, or didn't come out sounding anywhere as good. Many of plot tangles, though, have been solved by stepping away from the computer or lying down to sleep.