Writing Plus....

[celebkiriedhel]

Most all of us have to write - that's a given. But if writing was all we wanted to do, it wouldn't matter whether anyone ever read it or not.

So I was wondering what is the drive that wants us to have readers? Some of us want to publish, others of us don't. But all of us here want someone other than ourselves to read our stories.

That's what the plus means - that drive to be read.

So what fuels that plus for you?

My answer is the need to be heard. I have a fierce need for people to hear me and understand what I'm saying as a part of who I am. I also have an overwhelming fear of being villified for what I say - hence the ambivalence about publishing and having readers

I'd be really interested to hear what others have to say on this - because I'm pretty sure there are many, many reasons out there. (And this to me is different to the 'why do you write' question)

[hrootbeer]

Gosh, I never really thought about the writing from the reader stand point. I'd love to be able to say that I don't care if I have readers, but that'd be a huge lie.

I think I want readers because seeing that people actually like my work makes me feel like I've accomplished something. I am always a little surprised when people say that I'm a good writer. I've always thought that I could be, but never felt really like I was. Being read, I guess, helps me erase the negative critique I tend to give myself. It also keeps me going so that I don't quit.

[thelunarfox]

Well, I confess it's a bit of what you say Kiri. I write and need to share because I want to be heard. I think there's also a want to be accepted, as in to find others like me with like minds.

But I feel that a story doesn't live until it's been shared because sometimes there is so much there that I can't see it all. It's not until I share it and hand it over to someone else that it becomes something completely different. It's a shared experience that's greater than myself.

[Stacy]

This is a hard question for me, because I do not think about readers at all until I hit the publish button.

But once I do that, I very much want readers.

I guess - I'm like you, Kiri. In a lot of ways. I want to know that I'm being heard.

But with my fiction, that's changing. I care less and less about it - the more comments I get that are not the reaction I want (which the members here always give good comments) the more I realize that there are a lot of people out there who are incapable of receiving the message I'm trying to send.

I think, with my fiction, it's getting to the point where I publish it just because - it's my statement to the world. Here I am. Maybe you will find something of worth here, some reflection of yourself, and so this is a gift I give to you.

That's always been a major theme - giving my soul. I want to give my soul to the world. Because I love it. I love it like a flamethrower.

With my nonfiction - the main motivation there is also giving my soul, my love, my heart. And spreading that love.

We are all going to need a lot of love. Like Harry Potter - it's our weapon against the Voldemorts we face.

I have never been in control of my work. It has always been in control of me. And it wants to be out there, where people can read it.