what made you want to write in the first place?

[kagome26isawsome]

My answer is that I fell in love with a romance writer by the name of Sandra Brown. It was my moms fault actually. She bought me my first romance novel 'the alibi' at an early age 12 and i still have my first copy of that book (currently own 70 of her books). Since then I always wanted to write like her and write my own romance stories. So she is what got me into writing!

So I want to know what got you all into writing. I dont know if this was done before and i apologize if it was done before. So have fun!

Edited March 13, 2013 by kagome2526

[Cuzosu]

For me, it's in no small part a family thing. My family loves stories, both written and the total BS kind, and I have a few writers among them, too. One of my grandfathers was trying for professional level writing, but he died of cancer, so my grandma gave his manuscript to me so I could finish it for him. (Still working on that.) Another of my family became friends with Patricia Briggs through a writer's circle. My parents are both fans of books, though my mother's tastes are more varied. My grandmother adores books, some of which (fantasy) I have introduced to her, and others of which were recommended by her friends or on the sites she visits. (She's big on natural medicines and her beliefs are...quite an odd collection.)

One of my grandfathers enjoys telling and embellishing tales; he made up a wonderful ET-type spiel one day when my sister was late for school that had everyone laughing. He has a work sign, made some years ago, upon which can be read the following hours:

Sometime in the mornin'

to

Sometime in the evenin'

Sometimes closed

Why do we so enthusiastically listen to or read these tales, be they in book or spoken form? It's simple: we like to laugh. So it follows that I, who have encountered problems with people not comprehending my humor in its spoken form, would want to write. (My humor gets much better reception that way; not quite sure why.)

[botticelliangel]

I started writing because of my best friend. When we were in sixth grade, so very long ago, we would spend hours and hours on the phone with each other. But we weren't talking about boys or makeup, we were telling each other Beast Wars stories. I was her fanfiction hotline, not that either of us knew what fanfiction was back then. Her parents cut us off from the phone conversations, and she begged me to write with her so that we could always be entertained.

I really did not like the idea at first. I completely hated it, because I really sucked at spelling and had convinced myself at that I was never going to get any better so why learn. This was in no small part to do with various moves across the country, and a few really bad teachers who told me that I would never amount to anything.

But I did it because she was my best friend. Hell... in sixth grade she was my only friend. And I did get better. I found that I loved writing. I loved making stories, and I loved it when people liked my stories. I didn't really understand or start appreciating it until I started college, but writing for fun helped me with so many things. Confidence and academics being two of the biggest.

I love what I do.

[pittwitch]

I started writing when I was very young and bedridden due to an extended illness. In those dark ages, there were no computers, TV was black and white with only three stations, and the radio only had AM stations.

I am old.

I started reading to escape the monotony, disappearing into every story. Because I couldn't attend school, all of my assignments were written. A brilliant teacher started me down the path when she had me start writing stories as part of my homework.

[BronxWench]

I fell in love with reading so early on that I actually can't remember learning how to read. I loved words and the way you could put them together to create new and wonderful stories. From there, it was a natural progression to writing my own stories.

Real life kept me from writing for a long time, but here I am again, and this time it's to stay.

[Windrider Shiva]

I grew up in a household where there were always books and mags all around the house. My mom loves reading thrillers, while my dad was more into Tintin, Asterix and humor mags. We bought countless issues of local science mags, French mags, world history, dinosaur/paleontology mags... We were subscribed to libraries, mail book clubs, Reader's Digest, and so on.

My father was also a gamer and the more I grew, the more I compared games to interactive books. The problem was that I come from a small backwater area (an island, literally) and we had a very small pool of French games, so I had to learn English to keep playing. To this day I can't get into games localized in French (but I highly support localization, hell, that's my work XD).

On top of that, my best friend and I could spend hours roleplaying, either IRL or on phone. Long story short: we went to separate elementary schools and she'd come over on the weekends.

In school, I was good at French and English - I loved writing essays, and it was something my teachers encouraged me to do. I was 11 or so when I started writing for myself, but I think my mom found my M/M manuscript and I got dead scared she'd find the content I'd been writing, so I stopped. I started writing again later on, what I would finally discover as fanfiction... and I guess I used it as an escape from the bullying, the falling apart thing with my best friend, etc.

Today it's not an escape as much anymore. I have friends, I have online communities with people who have similar interests. But over the last year or so, I found it to be nearly vital for my mental health, to the point where I eventually need to take time off to write. The words just need to come out.

[the4w5neko]

I started writing because I like developing characters. I've written a few novels (mostly not finished, unfortunately) as well as a continuing autobiography.

I like writing stories about sexual abuse because it's taboo and interesting.

[magusfang]

It helps keep the nightmares away. When I write about things, then I tend not to dream about them. Someone (my wife) told me I should share it, she said it was good so I thought what the hell. But couldn't exactly post my writing as it was, so i adapted it to fiction. My early stuff is pretty dark and somewhat depressing but I do try to end on a good note

read Going Home and you'll understand it.

[Shunskitten]

I started reading and writing at a young age, and it wasn't until I as 19 that I wrote what I write now. I just wanted to try, just to see if I did like it since I enjoyed reading fanfiction so much, and found out that I love it and I love developing characters and plots and all that good stuff.

[Muhabba]

Mine reason I started writing was I wanted to read a story about a cross over between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and La Blue Girl. It seemed like such a natural cross over but I never saw one after years of reading fic on the net. So I decided to write one myself and it's turned into kind of a addiction.

[Scaley-Randy]

I love to read and I used to write a little when I was younger but then one day, I was struck with inspiration and the urge to write all my ideas down and share them with everyone. Plus my visual artistic skills weren't improving so writing seemed like a better alternative lol

[Kurahieiritr]

I was told that imagination, art, and fiction writing was a waste of time by my dad when I was single digit aged. I was always in trouble with him for making up rhymes off the cuff when I was at home. He thought of it as being a liar so the punishment got pretty bad while he was alive, but that just made me dig in my heels and get a lot more determined in my life choice to prove him wrong. He died when I was twelve so I almost lost my life goal focus. However, in high school I got a really awesome English teacher who decided to have all my teachers snag my notebooks of hand written poetry and stories since I hated my math classes so much I could not stand them and began writing stories in such classes. ROFL. Next thing I knew, said English teacher had entered several of my poems in various contests, and I won several of them. I got to go to college for free, so picked print media. Because of the awards I had won, I had enough skill to work my way into an editor position at a micro press. All of that was pre-stroke of course.

I started writing yaoi fan fiction several years back because my younger son had a melt down because of having the hots for a fellow male classmate. Doesn't hurt that my pals still working in the publishing industry tell me that writing gay-rotica is the fastest way to get published again. I have numerous original and fan fiction stories. Some are completed, and even posted here. The fan fictions need a new edit/overhaul since they are still a tad raw to my sensibilities. Anyway, my fan fiction dip was helpful to my younger son who graduated high school without committing suicide over his crushes which is all I really care about in the long run.

[Kurahieiritr]

I fell in love with reading so early on that I actually can't remember learning how to read. I loved words and the way you could put them together to create new and wonderful stories. From there, it was a natural progression to writing my own stories.

Real life kept me from writing for a long time, but here I am again, and this time it's to stay.

A: Yep, and you have even become a published writer as I recall. I think that is an admirable goal and proof in the pudding that you are a very good writer. I know I always enjoy reading your work and it is about the only stuff I'll review these days because I know you don't mind real reviews too. Hehehe

[BronxWench]

A: Yep, and you have even become a published writer as I recall. I think that is an admirable goal and proof in the pudding that you are a very good writer. I know I always enjoy reading your work and it is about the only stuff I'll review these days because I know you don't mind real reviews too. Hehehe

Thank you! That's a wonderful compliment, and I do adore good, solid concrit. That's how I've managed to improve enough to get published, but I believe I can always improve. I'll never stop learning how to write, and that in and of itself is amazing, and wonderful.

[Kurahieiritr]

Thank you! That's a wonderful compliment, and I do adore good, solid concrit. That's how I've managed to improve enough to get published, but I believe I can always improve. I'll never stop learning how to write, and that in and of itself is amazing, and wonderful.

A: You're most welcome. I feel the same way about writing as you do because there is endless things to learn about how to turn a phrase. I'll always make room to improve, and that is exactly what I aim to do for the rest of my life. Now if I could just find people who had enough time to actually give me some real solid contrit . . . A whole different and gooey ball of wax there. ROFL. Oh well, I can keep comparing my writing to the published crowd, and strive to make the best possible tales from that set of lessons also.

[BronxWench]

A: You're most welcome. I feel the same way about writing as you do because there is endless things to learn about how to turn a phrase. I'll always make room to improve, and that is exactly what I aim to do for the rest of my life. Now if I could just find people who had enough time to actually give me some real solid contrit . . . A whole different and gooey ball of wax there. ROFL. Oh well, I can keep comparing my writing to the published crowd, and strive to make the best possible tales from that set of lessons also.

Hopefully, things will slow down enough for me to do some reading, and I'd love to read your work!

[Kurahieiritr]

Hopefully, things will slow down enough for me to do some reading, and I'd love to read your work!

A: LOL if you can find any of my messy fics considering how tiny the anime sector I am posted in happens to be. ROFL. I am certainly not into any of the popular genres or anime stories out there.

[AquaTonic]

I didn't start writing until 6th grade when one of my teachers pulled out pictures and as a project, we were to write something around that picture and describe it. I fell in love with doing that, discovered fan fiction on the internet, and my fate was sealed! My cousin and I had binders full of stories we'd create together. First our own, and read them to each other a chapter at a time, and then we started writing together.

[Ryder]

I started writing stories when I was a teenager to combat loneliness and severe depression. Writing was simply the best form of escapsm for me; it was a distraction, keeping my mind busy and at least a little bit excited. I wasn't living a life I wanted to live at all, didn't have any friends or a boyfriend, but I could at least lose myself in my characters' wonderful, exciting, love-filled lives, even if only for a moment. Though I only still write (from time to time) for the exact same reasons I started all those years ago.

[DirtyAngel]

Peer pressure, I was strictly a reader but some of my favorite authors convinced me to try my hand at writing, so I did and it was a lot of fun

So I'm still doing it

[BustedCraft]

As a kid I was a bit of a loner, and a nerd before the whole geek chic thing made it socially acceptable. I liked to read, and my head was always full of stories. I overcame childhood insomnia by constructing elaborate tales in my head until I fell asleep, and if they still sounded good in the morning (which they so seldom did), I would write them down. As a teen, I wrote scripts for my friends' independent, no-budget movies, usually in the style of Twilight Zone. Now I work in IT, which I enjoy, but there's not much room for creativity in what I do, so I write as an outlet for storyteller in me. There was never an author, or particular piece of fiction that drove me to write. I don't do it for money, recognition, or anything of that sort. I do it because I'm compelled to, and would continue writing even if I were the only person to ever read it.

[Guest]

Hi,
Fantastic topic BTW...
The main reason I started writing is because a certain writer on another website inspired me to do so (not FFN). At first it was a struggle, but reading other stories pushed me forward. Sometimes it was a bitch putting two sentences together, using proper syntax or sentence structure, and staying away from those damned Passive Voice errors (Hate those). However, persistence paid off...

The manga I use in my moniker also inspired me to write since I thought it ended too suddenly. The mangaka had another series that was also very popular at the time and ended one with too many loose threads hanging and alternative paths to go on. Maybe they did it that way on purpose… who knows???

Now, I find it fascinating to create new worlds, add new players and use alternate plots to show off a rich cast. I find it fun too.

I continue because of the fun