Why do YOU write?

I wasn't exactly sure if this should go in the lounge or randomness or whatever, so, if there's a mod who thinks it should go elsewhere, free feel to move it.

I was talking to a cousin who doesn't like to read or write and she asked me: "Why do you like to write?" I was honestly stumped for a second, thinking, "Well...because it's fun..." but then, I was like, wait...no it's not! Or, that's not why I do it, rather.

So...my conclusion as to why I write is this: I've got all these ideas bouncing around my head and in my heart and I have to get them out.

So why do YOU write?

because an idea comes to mind.
because the urge to dictate is only quenchable by the dictation
because writing literature is easier than studying it
because i can
because writing is an outlet
because its fun
because through the pen and paper (or modernly alternatively the keyboard and processor) is mightyer than the sword and sheild (or modernly alternatively the gun and armor)
because sculpting will only tell so much of a story
because i like writing meaningless things and watch people try to find meaning in them
because i like to go on and on, and writing is a way to ensure that at least the computer will listen
because i got a new pen
because it is an outlet for procrastination
because

Yeah, thats a common thing why many people do the arts.
"Enjoyment from enjoyment"
Infact sometimes (yes sometimes) that is why I do what I do.

Writing sends me into a place where I can forget all of my problems and concentrate on the characters'.

*blinks* That explains SO much...

Anyway, it's fun, it's frustrating, it's challenging, it's rewarding, it's something I can constantly work on, it's something I feel I'm good at, plus it can be considered a career someday. It can be stressful and it can be relaxing. You can do it almost anywhere. It's a good way to pass the time. It's a way for me to play God, and a way to share God's Truth.

*laughs* I'll stop before I get too deep here. But hey, in the end, the only real answer is, "Why not?"

Befouled Acolyte: What the heck is your avatar? O.O

My original intentions for writing was because there was nothing else to do. As a kid, I ran out of books to read and my mother wasn't the type who let her kids play video games and watch tv all day long, so one day I said to myself, "Hey, I'll just write my own!" And that's exactly what I did. I just did it for the enjoyment of it...writing about orphans in 1900 living in England or New York was my number one passion. I never digged fairies or futuristic writing. As I got older and hit middle school, I experimented with poetry. My first poem was written 09-17-2001. And of course, it was about 9/11.My reason for writing them was basically just an outlet because I was so depressed at the time. When I got to high school, I stopped writing for awhile except for the occasional journal entry. Slowly, I realized how much I needed writing and for some reason, it helps me with my everyday life.

Overall what Qi said. Which was put very nicely.
Because I can.
And it's pretty much the only freedom of speech left in my opinion.
And teachers don't reallllllllllllllly read anything you write

I do it because my imaingination would drive me crazy if i don't

Yeah, I think Fontroy got it right. I would probably go mad if I didn't. I'm already bonkers.

It's also fun to play around with words, abuse this wonderful language we have that makes it so easy to invent words.

Many of my earlier works were about dealing with my problems, fantasizing about a better life, or one where I could be special. These days, those issues still come through my work. My play, for example, is about coming to terms with the fact that all the things that made me miserable before are gone.

Most importantly, I live for stories. I read these contemporary and experimental novels where the writer tries to do fascinating things with style and character developement, or write the book a certain way because they've never seen it done before. It gets to the point where the story doesn't matter anymore. Some of them are so riddled with literary devices and descriptions of setting that I completely lose track of who the characters are and what's happening. In high school, I took a writer's craft class, and I almost walked out when the teacher said that writing wasn't about telling a story. If you take a look at the classic literature that we remember, for all their literariness, they are also darn good stories.

Because it's good to know there's another thing to add to the list of "things I can't do right" also because if I get an idea and I don't write it down I end up not being able to concentrate. I have to get up at 3am just to write something down so I can sleep ¬¬

The same reason you have. I don't have that much of a reason unlike others before me.

I write because I enjoy doing it and cuz I have like all these ideas in my head and have to get them out. I guess you could say I have a vivid imagination. And I'm good at it...it's one of the things that I'm actually good at.

because i like writing meaningless things and watch people try to find meaning in them

*dies laughing*
He he he!!! That sounds like something I'd do!!!

I write because ... because I always did. I always read (since I learnt), and I always wrote books (since I learnt to write), even when I was very little. I've got remanents of stapled together paper scawled on with thick, Crayola red texta telling, not elloquently I'll admitt, about thngs like "the killer kite" (ok, that WAS weird) or "some untitled story about this girl goig out into this forest and being attacked by a monster and then flying away on an eagle, and that gives the inmpression that the writer didn't know how to spell 'forest'".

And, when I don't I go mad. It's not because I need to get the ideas out (that would simply send me insane) it's because if I don't tell a story every ... I don't know, month, probably ... it niggles at me, and itches and slowly drives me to the point of twitching involuntarily whenever I see a pen or keyboard. So then I write, and I'm Ok for a nother month or so.

And when I write I get the feeling I'm soaring ahead of everyone else, even if I have a mental blank and fail to recall how to spell the word "you" or something else that would usually make me feel very dumb.

Anyway, it's FUN.

I feel that writing is the only way I can truly express my feelings, 'cause no one truly understands how I feel.

I can't imagine not writing, quite honestly.

I started reading before the age of five, and when I was little I used to smell the page of my mom's big nursing books. Instead of looking through picture books, I would often ask for books with "just words" so I could look at the letters.

I love words, I love letters, I love language.

I've been writing since I could hold a crayon, and even if I don't do it for a career, I can't imagine ever stopping.

It's an escape from the mundane, an escape from the frightening world of growing up.

It's a part of me.