Why do you want to be published or why do you write?

[Homeless Drifter]

Since I've "refound" writing I've wondered what other people's motivation is. Before I was all about being published. But now I'm completely reworking a novel I had finished and edited (at least once or twice) into something extremely personal. This time I'm not about publication, although it's definitely on my mind. Right now this is just something I need to get out of my system to make sense of some things.

If I do decide to pursue publication I guess now it will be because I love writing and would like to make a living doing what I love.

[Amanda Elizabeth]

If I didn't write I think I'd be that girl who talks to herself. It's always been an outlet for me -- During high school I'd be in class and write entire short stories in these notebooks with myself as a character. Now with a degree in psychology I know that was a coping mechanism for a crappy home life, but it matured as I did into original stories. It was only a few years ago I ever let anyone read anything of mine and I got this ridiculous feedback -- from strangers, friends, and family -- and suddenly I wanted people to read what I write. Could I throw it on the Internet for free? Sure. But there's something about people wanting to read MY writing enough to pay for it that ups the validation. I know it sounds a bit self-centered, but whatever.

[Hillsy]

Do I write to be Published??....No, I think I could happily do this as a hobby without any financial reward
Do I write to be read??....Yeah. And for me, that's largely the reason I don't write as much as I should.

The first novel I wrote wasn't like that - it was a task in and of itself. I wanted to write a complete book; I wanted it to be fun; I wanted to build a new world, and magic system, and society, and a million other things; I wanted to explore character ideas.....not one thought involved anyone reading it. To date a grand total of 3 people have.....

Then I realised it was kinda of good. Not very good. Probably not even average looking back at it. But at the time I made a critical analysis and thought "this doesn't suck".....so I blitz edited it. Twice. Then prepped it finally for beta reading....printed out a load of copies...and realised I had no one to read it. Few of my friends read heavily, or read the genre. I didn't know anyone else that writes. I'm timid, if not shy, so I didn't lean on anyone to finish it. My (now) wife was the only person out of about 15 people I gave it to who finished it. I simply had no readers......

I'd realised that the physical act of writing, the actual business of describing, refining, and polishing a textual description of a plot/character/theme melange, kinda needs a reader at the other end. Otherwise, it's simply an overcomplicated description of an internal concept - albeit a long and precise one.

Then of course comes the mathmatical improbabilities of publishing. Throw on top of that the modern necessity for self promotion and marketing that makes me slightly nauseous....The likelihood of being read falls to a seriously low figure.

I write because I like creating stories, and characters, and worlds, and ideas. I write because, of the broad list of slightly rubbish abilities I have, it's the only one I'm actually very good at. I write in the hope that one day I'll get to do something I love every day, rather than sitting in my perennially unchallenging job daydreaming new worlds to stage grand events on. I write to entertain......unfortunately there isn't an audience.

I'm trying to remedy that. I've finally joined a writing group and that helps a little. They're wonderful people and unremittingly positive, so they feel many times more than their number. Maybe I'll be able to write more for them....I hope so. But it's going to be a slow process, and statistically one with a pretty unsatisfying outcome.....all I can do is hope I can enjoy the journey

[Sommer Leigh]

I write because that's the career I chose for myself. I love writing and the whole process. I do it because it's a job, not a hobby. It's not cathartic or exploratory or anything like that for me. There are no muses up in my house. I like telling stories and I love having readers, but I really want to do it as my full time career. Right now I do it part time, freelancing, under pen names for the most part, and it's not full time but it could be if I did more of it.

I'm all about doing what you love for your career. I like my full time job right now but nothing compares to how I feel when I'm writing and putting in the grudge hours and editing late into the night because I've got a deadline and can't quit till I hit it.

Fortunately for me, my full time non-writing job has a lot of editorial elements to it, so even when I'm not writing, I'm deleting other people's commas and fixing their sentence structures. I could do that all day long.

[Mark.W.Carson]

I write because I never knew I had an itch until I scratched. I had a story I had to get out, and there were only so many times I could talk about it before family and friends told me to write it, so I did.
It was only then I realized that writing is so much more than putting thoughts and words down on a page. I feel over my head sometimes, but I refuse to give up on the grounds I'd go back to telling people about my story again, wishing I'd done better.

[Beethovenfan]

You know, I recognize myself in almost everyone's posts.
Right now writing is sort of a hobby, but I'd really like it to be a full-time job. I've told my husband more than once that I could see myself using his office during the day to write (he only uses it in the evenings), but that won't happen until my two boys are grown.

I'm like Hillsy in that I didn't really have an audience until I joined the writers group (best thing I've done for my writing so far!). I had friends and family that read it but they could only tell me vague things about what worked and what didn't - I needed writers for that.

I began writing because I had a story to tell, and I simply had to get it out. Actually, I credit JK Rowling for getting me kick started. When I came to the end of Harry Potter, I was devastated about Snape. He was good all along! I was so enthralled with the idea of taking someone on such a wonderful ride that I finally decided to give writing a try. Funny thing is that I'm the one on the ride, and it's been one hellava rollercoaster! Lots of ups, lots of downs, but thrilling all the while.

[Quill]

Right now I do it part time, freelancing, under pen names for the most part, and it's not full time but it could be if I did more of it.

Wow, Sommer, that's great! What sort of stuff are you writing and selling?

[cdnovelist]

I'm not sure why I want to write and get published. My journey to publication started in my late twenties - that's around the time I started writing. For several years, all I worried about was publication and now that I've commercially published five romance novels, and I'm in between contracts, my vision has shifted somewhat.

I still want to publish more books, but, I think having people read my stories and give feedback about my writing, gives me a certain thrill. I'm not receiving much money for my writing at the current time. I'm writing simply because I enjoy writing and interacting with my fellow writers.

[Collectonian]

For me, I write because I have stories in me that drive me half mad unless I tell them in some fashion. It's been like that since middle school - all these stories and characters jumping up, introducing themselves, and 'showing" me their stories that I try to translate to some written form. (at Amanda - I'm one of those girls - I just make sure I do it when no one is around as I often talk out my stories to my self ) At times its stressful, and for over a decade I never did well with the putting stories to ink/pixels. It's "fun" in the aftermath, and a wonderful outlet for my creativity and imagination.

For why I want to be published - primarily to share the stories within me with others. Letting friends read them just doesn't do it, though I do enjoy people reading what I write even for free. Having a wider audience of readers who will know my stories would be wonderful. And, if it can generate a little side income at the same time, though, why not? Who doesn't want just a little more money? It isn't my career choice nor will it ever be my career - I know I'd never be a writer if it was "my job", just from my nature of how I am with my creative stuff. Web development is the only fun "hobby" that also translated to a career I love.