Authors, Writers, Publishers, and Book Readers

What really inspires you and gets your creative juices flowing? (Why do we write?)

The more I write, the more I think about the world in ways different than I did before. I wonder just where do the stories come from? What inside ourselves drives us to write? Are we born to write? Are we 'infected'? Or are we just lucky enough to access our own potential creative abilties/awareness?

The stories are fun and the characters intrude, taking over with urgent insistance, but that is not all of it. For me I feel driven by something within that I cannot quite put my finger on.

I would like to know more about it. Does anyone have any clues?

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Permalink Reply by Aries on August 15, 2011 at 6:36am

Lovecraftian horror like Saya no Uta and Demonbane gets me the most creative.

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Permalink Reply by kjforce on August 16, 2011 at 5:45pm

Great question...I think there is a writer in all of us..however..some have the "chutzpah" to act on it..True writers have a passion ,I personally write about ALL the quirks of life and my interpertation of the thoughts that go through my mind...I have published one book already and am getting ready to publish #2..I write short stories on various sites also..one of my writings was feautured @ edenjournal.com..ALL stories are based on true scenario's..check out and let me know what you think..

kjforce.wordpress.com

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Permalink Reply by Britannia Smith on August 16, 2011 at 9:37pm

I write because I like the temporary escape it provides from the mundane everyday life. There is something so magical about being able to design characters and create your own worlds and then lose yourself within them. Nothing seems to drive me to write, I just do it because I love it.

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Permalink Reply by Callie Leah on August 20, 2011 at 3:59am

I write for several reasons, all of which I have mentioned several times :)
First: It provides an escape. I for one understand how much real pressure can get to you, and because of pressure I almost lost everything (literally). When I write, or even read! I feel like I'm in a whole other world where my problems are so little! Like for example, take the book I'm writing. Would you rather be stuck in school with no one who cares to listen to you, or trapped on a pirate ship being the only female and treated like a lower-class citizen, despite the fact you're ten times better than any of the men on board?
Second: My best friend! She and I have been writing together since third grade, and if I ever quit writing, she'd slit my throat with a toothbrush! Haha, and vice versa!
Third: Juvenile as it may seem, I get to take out my anger while writing. And I won't deny that I've killed off a few real life rivals every now and then... ;)

That's why I write! :)

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Jake Wade on August 30, 2011 at 4:03pm

I am routinely in the woods, on my tractor, or in Bible study when the spirit "grabs" me and write, I MUST. I have some joint issues in my hands, which is about the only thing short of a major disaster that can stop the process. Writing is one of the three most rewarding things I do. Cutting firewood, building fence, repairing a barn, or quite Bible study seem to be the ultimate mediums for the initializing of the thoughts.

I hope this was what you were after.

In God's care,

Dr. Wade

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Jake Wade on August 30, 2011 at 4:06pm

Amen! Passion is key. Well said!

kjforce said:

Great question...I think there is a writer in all of us..however..some have the "chutzpah" to act on it..True writers have a passion ,I personally write about ALL the quirks of life and my interpertation of the thoughts that go through my mind...I have published one book already and am getting ready to publish #2..I write short stories on various sites also..one of my writings was feautured @ edenjournal.com..ALL stories are based on true scenario's..check out and let me know what you think..

kjforce.wordpress.com

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Permalink Reply by Sean Noonan on August 30, 2011 at 7:15pm

Thanks everyone! Inspiring stuff.

I also think there is a link between the conscious and the subconscious mind that plays a role. I am often driven to write because a character in my stories enters my dreams and tell me what they want to do in the stories, or I find a quiet contemplative moment, my thoughts turn to the stories and something exciting occurs to me to include in the part I am writing, from the back brain somewhere. (I have started to call it the chaotic creative cauldron of my mind).

When I am writing, the story also goes indirections I didn't originally intend but that work much better. It's spooky how well one off lines from characters turn out to have much deeper implications for the plot.

And yes ... PASSION! A powerful emotional force that compels us. How true.

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Permalink Reply by Justin Mitchell on August 30, 2011 at 8:09pm

I personally believe the universe is infinite, and that everything either has happened, is happening, or will happen somewhere. I don't even feel like I am making up stories so much as making a journal of another reality from my perspective. Somebody, somewhere is writing the story about us as well. I also believe in reincarnation and I think much of what we write comes from memories of past lives. The reason I began writing was because I enjoyed reading so much that I wanted to contribute something back. Turning on some minor key music seems to kick my brain into high gear for writing. Caffeine helps too...

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Permalink Reply by Catherine Green on September 5, 2011 at 11:30pm

I write because I need to. After all these years of living in a dream world, my head is finally clearing enough to focus on daily living! And I am amazed sometimes when I sit down to write, that my story flies off on a tangent. It is like the paranormal phenomenon of automatic writing. Something just takes over and before I know it, I've written a paragraph or a page that I never even planned. It is so exciting!

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Permalink Reply by Sean Noonan on September 6, 2011 at 9:09pm

I know what you mean. Its spooky sometimes how a chance thought that gets to the paper before I've registered it leads to a whole new avenue for the story. That happened to me with a chance remark by one of the characters about some forgetful seaslug's lost slime...

Catherine Green said:

I write because I need to. After all these years of living in a dream world, my head is finally clearing enough to focus on daily living! And I am amazed sometimes when I sit down to write, that my story flies off on a tangent. It is like the paranormal phenomenon of automatic writing. Something just takes over and before I know it, I've written a paragraph or a page that I never even planned. It is so exciting!

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Permalink Reply by Sean Noonan on October 29, 2011 at 10:55am

That is so true. Whether we know it or not, apply it consciously or not, we all want to share an opinion, or share a view of something interesting we have noticed in the world.

Mariah de la Croix said:

Hi Sean... When I write, or even think about writing, I remember an interview with Cleveland Amory when he was on the Johnny Carson Show many, many years ago. Mr. Amory said, "A writer is merely a reader with an opinion." That statement has stuck with me for many decades. Our writing is our way of getting our opinions, whether it's of something non-fictional or something from a world we've created, out there to the world and being heard. We all want to be heard.