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Why I write

taladraco:

I’ve found that lately I lack much motivation to create. It’s hard for me to focus on editing my novel. I don’t draw much anymore. I can’t even write these original stories I think up every night as I lay in bed trying to sleep. And I wondered why. It would be easy to blame it on laziness. But that’s not really all of it.

A friend of mine was asked once why she writes: for herself or for attention. At first, I related with the person asking the question. You should write for yourself.

But then I started thinking. Why does anyone write? I can’t answer that question for anyone but myself. And my answer? I write for other people.

If I say here and said I write for myself, I would be lying. I don’t need to write down a story if it’s only for myself. My imagination is far better and more creative than my brain can put into words. If I were writing for myself, I would never write at all. I would simply sit back in my chair or my bed, close my eyes and let my imagination run wild.

The act of taking those thoughts out of my head and putting a shadow of them onto paper isn’t done for my own sake. I do it because I want to share this crazy wonderful story with others.

I like to think that’s why others create, but I can’t answer for them. And I think that’s why I have trouble forcing myself to create anymore. When I feel like there’s nobody who cares about what I create, it gets harder for me to create anything.

And it’s not that I’m looking for praise even. I just want to create things that make people smile. That make them feel good or laugh or cry.

I guess what this all boils down to is that if you read a fanfic or see a piece of art that you like or anything that someone created, I hope you go tell them that. Because I think that it will make them very happy to know that their work made someone happy.

Don’t forget to feed and nurture your artists and writers and creative types.

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But I am afraid we must face the likelihood that he [Shakespeare] wrote bawdy, not because the audience insisted on it, nor his fellow actors, nor even the aristocratic followers of his work, but just because it amused him.

John Berryman (via howtotalktogirlsdialectically)

#…yeah this is new? #spoiler alert #shakespeare was dating a hot blond dude and the owner of a brothel #his bff got killed in a spy rendezvous/bar fight combination #he himself died by choking on fish after partying too hard #like #shakespeare liked dick jokes #(and probably also dick) #your attempts to attach modern standards of ‘classiness’ to him are wrong #(and also gross as hell bc he LITERALLY DIDN’T HAVE CLASS #HE WAS A GLOVEMAKER’S SON #IT WAS AWESOME) #shouts ‘stop trying to appropriate shakespeare for the rich academic elite’ into the void #i never writ; nor no man ever loved @swanjolras

(via festeringfae)

Someone finally articulated what I couldn’t

(via rinwolfy)

#it both amuses me to no end and pisses me the hell off #that there’s still this ever pervasive fucking myth #that good art can only come from some kind of prestigious wealthy or academic background #no #and that’s why art is wonderful #it mocks those stereotypes #you can posture all you want #but talent doesn’t care #and you can’t fucking buy it

(via tchy)

“I am afraid we must face the likelihood” oh I bet you’re afraid

be afraid of shakespeare’s infinite sex puns

(via jcatgrl)

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Got a royalty statement for my taxes today. It’s like, $20, but hey, I have officially made money from writing.

Woo

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I want to write poetry that grabs fists of your hair and rips it from the scalp of your dead skull, refusing to be lost amidst the din and the clamor of death screaming and sobbing that it is life, it is life.

I want to write words that are a weighty fist to your sternum, dispelling any breath still lingering in the dried up husks you call lungs and revealing to you that a lack of oxygen is not the only condition that constitutes a drowning man.

I want to write stories that grab the skin at the back of your neck and shove your face an inch away from the incomprehensible darkness, forcing you to confront what simmers in the depths of your soul- the repeated lament that what you see in the middle of the night behind your shuttered eye sockets is death although it claims to be life.

I am afraid the darkness knows me better than I will ever know myself, so I write to know, until there is no more to write.

I Want to Write // gretchen (via davidburked)
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Working on my superwholock fic and making myself a bit crazy with too many characters. At least when the shit hits the fan they’ll be good on doctors (Owen, Martha, John). Dean needs to shut up and let Jack lead.

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People too often conceive of worldbuilding strictly as background research, as a sort of dry and exhaustive homework. Every tiny and immediate detail in a story can be worldbuilding. Every button and widget can imply or reveal something to the reader. You can replace pages of deadly boring infodump with a few comments in conversation, a few glances at what people wear or eat or venerate. You shouldn’t think of worldbuilding as something boxed off from the rest of the text. it can be intrinsic with dialogue, description, etc. It’s crucial (and liberating) to realize that every word you put on a page can and should perform multiple duties simultaneously. Description can be worldbuilding. Dialogue can be character development. Messages within messages, revelation within revelation. Also, remember that nobody can follow all these guidelines all the time without exception or flaw. The point is just to keep aiming higher. It’s art as well as craft. Some parts of it you can measure almost scientifically. Some parts are mad whack inscrutable alchemy. But chances are, if you work hard to lay a solid foundation of craft, you’ll strengthen everything that’s more numinous and subjective, too. There is no “one true way” to write anything, nor one true goal in writing/publishing. Treasure beautiful oddballs and weird experiments.

Scott Lynch, author of the Gentlemen Bastards series, on world-building and the craft of writing and publishing, as collated from a series of tweets I woke up to this morning, (via theletterdee)
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Start telling the stories that only you can tell, because there’ll always be better writers than you and there’ll always be smarter writers than you. There will always be people who are much better at doing this or that – but you are the only you.

Neil Gaiman (via writersyoga)

Billy Collins, the former Poet Laureate, said much the same thing at a talk once. Write the thing only you can write.

(via ursulavernon)

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The writer’s job is to get the main character up a tree, and then once they are up there, throw rocks at them.

Vladimir Nabokov (via elucipher)
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100 questions for characters

Many moons again I came across this list of questions on a now-defunct Geocities site. Thankfully I saved in a word document, because this has become one of my absolute favorite writing tools.

What I like to do is convince a friend to sit down with me and interview the character using the questions, or I Interview someone else character. It’s a fantastic way to get inside a tricky characters head, to learn more about where they are coming from and what motivates them.

The list is below the cut:

               Part 1: The Basics

1.      What is your full name?

2.      Where and when were you born?

3.      Who are/were your parents?  (Know their names, occupations, personalities, etc.)

4.      Do you have any siblings?  What are/were they like?

5.      Where do you live now, and with whom?  Describe the place and the person/people.

6.      What is your occupation?

7.      Write a full physical description of yourself.  You might want to consider factors such as: height, weight, race, hair and eye color, style of dress, and any tattoos, scars, or distinguishing marks.

8.      To which social class do you belong?

9.      Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses?

10. Are you right- or left-handed?

11. What does your voice sound like?

12. What words and/or phrases do you use very frequently?

13. What do you have in your pockets?

14. Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics?

   Part 2: Growing Up

 

15. How would you describe your childhood in general?

16. What is your earliest memory?

17. How much schooling have you had?

18. Did you enjoy school?

19. Where did you learn most of your skills and other abilities?

20. While growing up, did you have any role models?  If so, describe them.

21. While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family?

22. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

23. As a child, what were your favorite activities?

24. As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display?

25. As a child, were you popular?  Who were your friends, and what were they like?

26. When and with whom was your first kiss?

27. Are you a virgin?  If not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity?

28. If you are a supernatural being (i.e. mage, werewolf, vampire), tell the story of how you became what you are or first learned of your own abilities.  If you are just a normal human, describe any influences in your past that led you to do the things you do today.

   Part 3: Past Influences

 

29. What do you consider the most important event of your life so far?

30. Who has had the most influence on you?

31. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

32. What is your greatest regret?

33. What is the most evil thing you have ever done?

34. Do you have a criminal record of any kind?

35. When was the time you were the most frightened?

36. What is the most embarrassing thing ever to happen to you?

37. If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be, and why?

38. What is your best memory?

39. What is your worst memory?

                

   Part 4: Beliefs And Opinions

40. Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic?

41. What is your greatest fear?

42. What are your religious views?

43. What are your political views?

44. What are your views on sex?

45. Are you able to kill?  Under what circumstances do you find killing to be acceptable or unacceptable?

46. In your opinion, what is the most evil thing any human being could do?

47. Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love?

48. What do you believe makes a successful life?

49. How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings (i.e. do you hide your true self from others, and in what way)?

50. Do you have any biases or prejudices?

51. Is there anything you absolutely refuse to do under any circumstances?  Why do you refuse to do it?

52. Who or what, if anything, would you die for (or otherwise go to extremes for)?

                   Part 5: Relationships With Others

 

53. In general, how do you treat others (politely, rudely, by keeping them at a distance, etc.)?  Does your treatment of them change depending on how well you know them, and if so, how?

54. Who is the most important person in your life, and why?

55. Who is the person you respect the most, and why?

56. Who are your friends?  Do you have a best friend?  Describe these people.

57. Do you have a spouse or significant other?  If so, describe this person.

58. Have you ever been in love?  If so, describe what happened.

59. What do you look for in a potential lover?

60. How close are you to your family?

61. Have you started your own family?  If so, describe them.  If not, do you want to?  Why or why not?

62. Who would you turn to if you were in desperate need of help?

63. Do you trust anyone to protect you?  Who, and why?

64. If you died or went missing, who would miss you?

65. Who is the person you despise the most, and why?

66. Do you tend to argue with people, or avoid conflict?

67. Do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situations?

68. Do you like interacting with large groups of people?  Why or why not?

69. Do you care what others think of you?

   Part 6: Likes And Dislikes

 

70. What is/are your favorite hobbies and pastimes?

71. What is your most treasured possession?

72. What is your favorite color?

73. What is your favorite food?

74. What, if anything, do you like to read?

75. What is your idea of good entertainment (consider music, movies, art, etc.)?

76. Do you smoke, drink, or use drugs?  If so, why?  Do you want to quit?

77. How do you spend a typical Saturday night?

78. What makes you laugh?

79. What, if anything, shocks or offends you?

80. What would you do if you had insomnia and had to find something to do to amuse yourself?

81. How do you deal with stress?

82. Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to have a plan?

83. What are your pet peeves?

                

   Part 7: Self Images And Etc.

84. Describe the routine of a normal day for you.  How do you feel when this routine is disrupted?

85. What is your greatest strength as a person?

86. What is your greatest weakness?

87. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

88. Are you generally introverted or extroverted?

89. Are you generally organized or messy?

90. Name three things you consider yourself to be very good at, and three things you consider yourself to be very bad at.

91. Do you like yourself?

92. What are your reasons for being an adventurer (or doing the strange and heroic things that RPG characters do)?  Are your real reasons for doing this different than the ones you tell people in public?  (If so, detail both sets of reasons…)

93. What goal do you most want to accomplish in your lifetime?

94. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

95. If you could choose, how would you want to die?

96. If you knew you were going to die in 24 hours, name three things you would do in the time you had left.

97. What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death?

98. What three words best describe your personality?

99. What three words would others probably use to describe you?

100. If you could, what advice would you, the player, give to your character?  (You might even want to speak as if he or she were sitting right here in front of you, and use proper tone so he or she might heed your advice…)