I have always loved putting pen to paper, for my own enjoyment. But, the rush of having someone (particularly not a family member) read your work ... critique it, applaud it, encourage one with honest words .... was what drew me to a place like Lush.
As I have evolved as a writer, I would still say, I still write for myself as a way of putting some experiences in order .... and the bonus is when the reader says ... thank you for sharing.
I think it takes a balance between writing for oneself and writing for an audience. If I write what I think the audience wants, I will miss the mark completely. It is a pretty meal, with no taste. If I write for myself, I am asking the audience to take a gigantic leap. And on the other side of that leap, they may not like what they find. I found that out in workshopping a future story with Yahtzee. I had a story I wanted to tell and a vision I wanted to present. However, in keeping close fidelity to my vision, it was not compelling for her or for anyone else that would read it. I destroyed the faith the audience put in me and that is very hard to earn back. As one of my instructors put it succinctly, you write for yourself, but you edit for your audience.
I would have to say I write for me, or her... to seduce her.
It is a release. I have an image in my head, of her. I am writing for her, the story is my fantasy.
I may never reveal it to her but having put it into words gives me the release, which is almost sexual and surely sensual. I write quickly, never knowing the next sentence or phrase, but the words spill out of me like a repentant confession.
But once it is done, I sit back and read it, editing spelling, phrases and tweaking the story for proper continuation and perhaps adding details such as a certain location, drink or such. All of this I am editing for the reader.
Once complete, I may send it to her immediately, or submit it online, or save it for later. But then later seldom comes.
"her" is an evolving series of ladies that evoke passion in me. Some are lovers, some are friends, but once consummated the passion slowly starts to fade.
I would have to say that the writer ultimately writes for themselves. Whatever the reason is that one writes it can ultimately be traced back to a want, need or desire that the author has. The few stories that I have written are centered around my own fantasies/experiences and inevitably turn me on before the story is completed. Of course there are those who claim to write merely for the sake of the art. This claim may be true but I would wager that most every author who publishes on this website immediately checks the status of their latest story in terms of votes, comments or the number of times the story was viewed; once again satisfying a want/need of the author. A bit narcisistic perhaps but, if Freud is correct, we are all ego driven. To be honest I don't care why you write just keep it up, I love it!
Quite an interesting discussion here.
I am relatively new to writing for anyone other than myself. I've never published anything before the two stories here for public consumption. So as an evolving writer, I will write mostly for myself and partially for the audience. Since most of my stories will likely be true accounts, I have to make sure that they are not mundane to the reader. So in my opinion, a balance is what's best.
I don't write for votes and or comments; but I truly love to hear from other authors that have constructive views to add. It helps me keep me on my toes.
I am an avid reader and I'm picky. I know what I look for in a good story or a poem. So, I try hard to live up to those standards when I write. I discard more than I keep, unfortunately. In that way I am writing for myself, but out of the same type of respect I expect to be shown as a smart reader.
I write for myself, but if others enjoy it, that's a nice wee bonus (or maybe that should be boner in this case). Of course, if someone asked me to write a story for them and give me guidelines etc, I'd enjoy the challenge.
I write for the reader since the thought of them getting off gets me off. Everything I write is true so I try to re-live the encounter through my writing., and some times I get aroused recalling the event. Not sure when I write best, horny or freshly satisfied. I need to experiment.
The next best thing to having lots of friends is being famous, and it can be achieved through writing if you are read. I wonder how many would write on a dersert island with plenty of blank paper.
' When I'm dead, I hope it will be said,
He's sins were scarlet but his books were read.'
Generally, I think majority of the writers here write for "themselves."
"Themselves" being their interests and their idea of sexy.
I do consider my audience when I write, especially when I reread and edit.
But only to a certain degree. When you put yourself into the story and write
according to your own fancies, it creates a uniqueness and provides someone
else with something new to enjoy.
The votes are like gravy: Not needed, but it's nice to have. And it's more
rewarding to have votes because of who you are as an author, not who
you're pretending to be.
I think it's irrelevant if a writer is male or female, what matter's most is how well it was written and is it written to your literary ability; most people pick a story based on the level of their reading ability, I do, but I also like to challenge myself with higher level of vocabulary. That's why reading always pulls me back, as there is always something interesting to read!
When I forst started writing for Lush and myself I wrote for my pleasure and now I have exhausted my pleasure somewhat, I'm wondering where does that leave me now as a writer; so I think based on that I'd probably say I'd try and write for the reader. I just never have wrote from that prespective and not sure where to start?
I WISH i could just write for myself and feel satisfied, no matter what other people thought but the truth is, without knowing that other people have enjoyed it, i feel kind of crap. It's really important for me to know that people have connected with my work.
