I am not sure if this is the right place to post, but I will post it here anyway. Long time ago, my best friend and I started doing many kinds of role-playing. We did role-playing of Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, and many things. We still do role-playing even now. That's when I started writing stories because I have such a creative mind that I want to put it into story. So, writing story became my hobby. I love stories, but I also want to show it people, so I can entertain them. That is why I thought by joining forums, I can get some opinions on my story. Even so, I feel like I am getting obsessed on getting more people to read my story than writing stories for fun. Should I just write story just for entertainment for people or writing stories for my own fun? I am not sure now. I just only had this feeling right now.
I used to do a lot of roleplaying - face-to-face in the past, and MUDs more recently. The immediate feedback to your creativity that you get with roleplaying is pretty addictive. If you write a clever line in a story, there's a chance that someone will read it someday, and there's a smaller chance that you'll get positive feedback on it. If you write a clever line in a text-based roleplaying game, or speak one in live roleplaying, you get positive feedback in seconds. The closest that I get to that immediate feedback in writing is with my blog (where I usually get silence or positive feedback), and posting things in the review room here (where it may be positive or negative, but if I post here, I want that honest feedback and have prepared myself for criticism). So I recommend both. But I wouldn't recommend over-focusing on getting people to read your stuff - developing your audience should be something to motivate the writing, not your main goal. ChickenFreak
I can agree, if only somewhat. I think any writer has to write for love of the craft, of the process, of the feeling one gets when they finish any length of manuscript. Developing an audience is nice in its own way, but it's an afterthought. For me at least. If you like to write, then write. Write to the degree that makes you happy. Write in the medium that you like to write in. Write in the style that you can express or entertain the best in. Or don't. It's up to you after all. Just do what you want, so long as you enjoy doing it.
"...Should I just write story just for entertainment for people or writing stories for my own fun?..." Yes. Whichever you want. Why not accept both? Write for your own fun AND present to others. That's what I do. I write for myself, but take my poetry & shorts to writing groups & open mics. I've also written works that I thought someone else would like. Have never written for the commercial market, but wouldn't have any trouble doing so if I trusted myself to do more than dabble for a couple months. -Frank
Write stories for your own fun. If you think it's fun, so will readers. Everyone has types of writing that they do and don't like -- some people like horror and romance while other people hate those genres -- so you're never going to please every single person no matter how great the story is. Whatever you write, there will be a fan base for that, but if you're not having fun with what you're writing then chances are it won't be anywhere near as good as it would be if you wrote what you love.
I think it is a natural evolution. When I was a kid, I played a lot of AD&D; I was always the DM of course, designing worlds, adventures, creating whole towns of NPCs. When I got older and stopped playing RPGs, I still had the desire to create and started writing stories. Initially, they were just for me, a way to satisfy my urge. I wrote a lot of crap that will never see the light of day but had a good time doing it and it was good practice for later when I wanted to write for others. Now, I still write for fun, but am more serious about it, submitting what I write for publication and always trying to get better.
Write for fun. If you get pleasure from your writing that in its self is a bonus. If you still want others to read your stories work towards getting published.
