Why Do You Write?

Discussion in 'General Writing' started by Raven, Jun 13, 2007.

  1. Villion_

    Villion_ New Member

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    Why are they so different? One can write with a pen on a paper in one's imagination. Will it not be the same as actually writing?
     
  2. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    Your nonsense is a little insulting to those actually practicing the craft of writing. To imply that just thinking is the same as writing... this is a writers forum. If you don't see any value in the actual act of writing, then what are you even doing here?
     
  3. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    Writing - writing on paper - communicates to other people. "Writing" in one's own imagination communicates not at all.
     
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  4. Villion_

    Villion_ New Member

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    You are very hasty in your conclusion. Your motto seems to be: "Verdict first, consider after". You seem to contradict yourself in two lines, one closely following the other. With almost the same breath you admit that I value thinking as much as writing ("to imply that just thinking is the same as writing...") and that I don't value writing ("if you don't see any value in the actual act of writing"). But whoever thinks that writing is the same as thinking must value writing very highly, elevating it to the dignity of thinking. For thinking can exist without writing, but writing can not be without thinking, or it is a fake writing.

    If you find what I said "a little insulting" what would you say to Leo Tolstoy, writing in his diary:
    I often thought why I, an old man, who is certainly not a fool, occupy myself with such a meaningless thing as writing. Having thought about it much, I've come to the conclusion that the onlty reason I do it is that I find a sensual pleasure in feeling my hand brush against the paper.

    For myself I can say that not only brushing one's hand against the paper is what gives pleasure, but seeing letters forming on the blank as you progress. So I can suggest visualizing the letters appearing before you, forming into words and sentences. Thus one can quench the inordinate thirst for writing.
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2017
  5. Lifeline

    Lifeline South. Supporter Contributor

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    @Villion_ through writing-down-on-paper, thoughts get clarified and bound into context. I posit that the act of focussing on the actual writing-them-down is effective in the outcome: namely that the CLARITY and the CONTEXT gets set. Maybe you have a different brain pattern than me, but I know this to be true from personal experience. Thoughts in my brain will never be as clear as thoughts-on-paper.

    The quote from Tolstoy is nice, but focusses on the 'thirst for writing'. This quote is not appropriate to pin down the value of writing-down. And even taken in its own context, for me personally it would never work. I write because I need to write, and thoughts in my brain will never be a substitute.
     
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  6. Villion_

    Villion_ New Member

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    Yes, writing seems to communicate, but is it a real communication, such as one would have? When one reads and wants to ask a question about what one reads, whom will he get an answer from? Not from the book, for the book only can repeat what it has already said. If one that writes wants to have a feedback from a reader, what does he have a chance to get? Not much, I suppose.
    So it is important not to confuse the word "communicate" with the word "communication". The first may apply to writing, the second can't.
     
  7. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I think you may want to find other words to use - "communicate" is the verb, "communication" the noun, but they refer to the same action, an neither implies that the communication must be two-way. Possibly you're looking for "dialogue" or something like that?

    Have you written an intro post? I'm curious to see where you're coming from...
     
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  8. Villion_

    Villion_ New Member

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    I agree both "communicate" and "communication" don't imply two-wayness. But it seemed to me that in the usual talk "communication" is mostly used as denoting the interchange of idears, that is two-wayness, whereas "communicate" is used much more sparingly, denoting rather transmission, that is one-wayness.

    "Dialogue" could stand for "communication", but its scope is more narrow than that of communication, and it refers to a special type of discourse, being hence more technical.

    But what is the point of all this? When we said "the actually writing communicates" we should have excluded the word play by specifying what is here meant by "coomunicate". This having not been done, I feel myself free to use the word "communicate" in whatever sense I choose. Replacing the verb "communicate" by the noun "communication" allows one to outline the presence of the two meanings.

    I have not written an intro post. Don't know what to say in it or how to do it. I am from Russia.
     
  9. Villion_

    Villion_ New Member

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    I agree that clarity and context may be set by writing-down-on-paper. But it is curious to ask oneself why it is so. I suggest that it is because one transmits one's thoughts into another medium, in the case of writing into visual representation on the paper, but it is not the paper but transmission which is essential . And it is not only the visual representation on the paper that one could transmit one's thoughts into, one could transmit them into visualized images in one's mind. The effect of this would be the same: clarification. However visualizing requires practice and application. But once one got the knack of it it will always do the job of a clarifyer.

    Of course we may say that there may be different brain patterns, nevertheless there are things which we may all share.

    As to context, it is definitley helped by writing-on-paper, but again why? Is is not because writing, rewriting and correcting we spend more time on the process? Which allows more time time for the cristallization of the plot?

    Perhaps the quote from Leo Tolstoy doesn't pin down the value of writing-on-paper, but Leo Tolstoy surely did, in this passage as in numerous works on art, religion and philosophy. However need for writing is a tangible reality and writing is not a thing to be dissuaded from.
     
  10. Arcadeus

    Arcadeus Senior Member

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    The reason I write is so that I will some day have something to leave this world for all it has done for me.
     
  11. jjwiggin

    jjwiggin Member

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    Does it matter?
    For me, it is therapeutic - I've been through so many traumatic experiences and I have not been able to tell anyone about it. I hate self pity - I know that I am partially to blame for them. I never listen until it's too late and I'm in deep trouble. I can't afford to pay a psychiatrist for help, so writing fiction (where I make the characters go through the same hell I went through) is therapeutic for me.

    Is that wrong?
     
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  12. Shimario

    Shimario Member

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    I get a lot of ideas and its my only way to express them. Also, i want to accomplish something significant in my life and i figured writing a book and getting it published would be a big accomplishment. Plus i enjoy it.
     
  13. jjwiggin

    jjwiggin Member

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    Does it matter?
    I forgot who said it, but there's this quote saying that there are three things you can do to "matter" in this world have kids, plant a tree, or write a book.
     
  14. Zadocfish

    Zadocfish Member

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    I like to share the stories I come up with. If I can entertain someone else with the work of my hands, it's incredibly validating to me, and it makes me very happy. That's why I write!
     
  15. Jaydrian

    Jaydrian New Member

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    I write because I can't do without it. I have so many ideas just floating in my head I have to get them out. I was just lucky I have what it takes to make them enjoyable on paper.
     
  16. blueshogun96

    blueshogun96 Member

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    I write for multiple reasons.

    1. Because it's a talent that I've neglected for far too long.

    2. I'm a dreamer, with a vivid and lucid imagination. My visions for stories are often stimulated by an equilibrium of the right mental picture which is often enhanced by the proper music since music is capable of stimulating the senses. When that vision arrives, and generates enough emotion and feelings with it, I immediately write it down and it becomes a story that everyone tends to enjoy.

    3. To reach deep inside of myself, and discover some of my own desires, faults, and confessions I never thought of in depth. I prefer to put a little piece of myself into every story as it helps express myself at that given moment and why I was inspired to write it.

    Shogun
     
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  17. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    I write because I have to. It's compulsive for me. It's like pooping. To hold it in would be painful and detrimental to my health.
     
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  18. Trina Lynne

    Trina Lynne New Member

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    Why I write can be a complex and simple answer.

    What compels you to write?
    The feeling I get by not writing is what compels me. The things I hear, see, feel, do; all of it compels me to write. The strong desire to tell a story.

    Why do you write?
    I write because I can't NOT write. I write to have a voice and make a difference. I write so that I may help someone through a trying time.

    What makes you write what you write?
    Knowing that there needs to be more people lending their voices to the world is what makes me write what I write. Also, the need to be set free from past mistakes and situations.

    What Made you decide you liked to write?
    When I was in grade school and the teacher used to ask us to write a couple paragraphs about our weekend, and I would write 2 to 3 pages; back and front. It was then that I knew I wanted to write and loved doing it.

    What Do You Write?
    My first love is poetry. However, I write blogs, articles, fiction (mainstream, crime, and suspense), and nonfiction (self-help and writer assistance).
     
  19. Danish Anwer

    Danish Anwer New Member

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    What compels you to write?
    I feel an inner joy when I translate my thoughts in the form of words. Writing allows me to focus and think straight. Also, I like writing because I can communicate with others as well as my future self.

    I mostly write non-fiction eBooks, blogs, and articles. I have an analytical mind that can dissect complex issues in simple words through my writing.

    I discovered my passion for writing when I was in my mid-20s. I was fed up with the poor educational system in the private school / college in my country. That's why I decided to complete my intermediate and bachelors degree privately. Since I did not had to attend any lectures and studied mostly at home, I had much more spare time that I utilized productively. It was during that time I got into the habit of writing, which by the grace of God has now become my main source of income in my country.

    I hope to continue channelizing my thoughts through the medium of writing for a long time. I also look forward to connecting with fellow passionate writers like me through this forum.
     
  20. iRoppa

    iRoppa Member

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    I don't know if I'm unique in this (I doubt I am!) but here goes:
    After all the books, comics, short stories, articles, blogs, and who-knows-what-else that I've read throughout the years, I've always felt that there's a story out there that hasn't been told. Even the books I've enjoyed immensely and gone back to on several occasions have left me with a feeling that something is missing. I've come to the conclusion that I'm looking for something in this literary mountain but, as I've no real idea what it is, I've yet to find it. So I write. I write in the hope that whatever it is I seek, deep down, will intentionally or otherwise find it's way onto the page. And when it does, maybe - just maybe - it will not only ease this yearning in me, but in someone else out there too!
    And that, my friends, is why I write.
    Isn't that why we all write?

    Now, all I have to do, is write something...shudda kept my mouth shut...
     
  21. Abiyoyo

    Abiyoyo New Member

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    What compels you to write?

    At any particular time, a feeling just bubbles up within me and tells me I really should. Sometimes this will be down to direct inspiration, whether external or because a "good" idea has popped into my head. At other times I just feel I should.

    Why do you write?

    I enjoy it - if everything is going well I enter a totally focused state, so I'm not thinking about anything other than writing. Which is really nice because I worry about a lot of mundane things and writing stops that. I think I don't like the real world very much. I also enjoy reading back over things when I think they're decent, and very occasionally show them to other people. The reaction can be very satisfying.

    What makes you write what you write?

    The multitude of experiences I've had in my life I guess. They've been collected within my brain and are regurgitated in the form of whatever it is I write.

    What made you decide you liked to write?

    I used to enjoy writing stories in English lessons in school, and it sort of went from there.

    What Do You Write?

    I'm not very keen on genre, but I've dabbled in fantasy, weird fiction, historical fiction, comedy, plays and song lyrics (though the last not for a long while now). I've also written non-fiction but that's more of a work thing.
     
  22. D.Q.

    D.Q. New Member

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    1 - My heart.
    2 - Helps me discover myself.
    3 - My observations of the world around me.
    4 - One fine evening when I had nothing to do and decided to give blogging a shot.
    5 - Short stories, satirical pieces and situation analysis
     
  23. Number 7

    Number 7 Member

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    Why Do You Write?


    What compells you to write?

    - My persistently thinking brain which drives me to levels of stress unknown to most. Most likely a side-effect of depression.

    Why do you write?

    - Simply to write the ideas that form into my head and gather them as complexly as possible without sacrificing ease of reading or clarity.

    What makes you write what you write?

    - Music. Outside Stimuli. I also use such stimulation to fuel my creative writing.

    What Made you decide you liked to write?

    - I'm an extremely apathetic person, borderline nihilistic. I don't really care for writing, I just do.

    What Do You Write?

    - To be honest, I have a hard time answering this. I guess I write my personal feelings into characters. I'm simply unoriginal when I write.
     
  24. gertegan

    gertegan Member

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    Why do you write? Because I'm a masochist.
     
  25. AnnieGlindon

    AnnieGlindon New Member

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    The reason why am I writing is, I have thousands of ideas crawling around in my head that I would have no other way of getting out.

    Writer India
     
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