"What's the point of writing if no one reads it?"

[sarillia]

...and I will also be rambling about the idea that everyone should be constantly working to improve

I only started writing less than seven years ago. A few times before that, I had started to write something but it never got past two handwritten pages and I never made a serious attempt at it. Then when I was 16, for reasons I still don't understand, I signed up for National Novel Writing Month. I loved it and I've done it every year since and I've also participated in a lot of the unofficial spin-offs.

So maybe I have a different approach to writing than most people because it was nothing but entertainment from Day One. I had no grand plans to be published or ideas about making a career as a writer. I have always been a very anxious person so from the start I told myself that I would not be showing my writing to other people. It was just for fun. Just for me. And I kept that up for a long time.

But people could not let me do so in peace. So many people kept asking me that question that I typed up there in the post title. They kept telling me how sad it was that these stories would sit on my computer forever only to be read by me.

What makes writing different from other pastimes? Obviously one big thing is that it produces something, but why should that come with an obligation to share that product with the world.

Speaking of obligations, that's another thing that I always heard. "If you don't show anyone your writing then you are never going to improve." Fair enough. But who said I wanted to improve? Why should that be a given? Why couldn't it just be something I did for fun? I realize that "having fun" and "trying to improve" are not incompatible but that doesn't mean they can't be separated.

I've come across this idea a lot that if you write or do anything creative then you should be trying to become great at it. Even in fandom, which has lately been derided as a place where people want to hear nothing but positive comments (which is apparently just awful), there are people acting like writers are breaking some kind of code if they don't ask for constructive criticism.

Things have changed for me. I've decided that I would like to try out the whole sharing and getting criticism thing. But I don't think that's the only valid way to write. There are hobbyists who care about nothing but how much fun they're having--I used to be one of them and it brought me a lot of joy--and I don't see why they should be looked down on so much.

Maybe someone who disagrees with me can make a persuasive argument. I honestly don't understand this, and I have a feeling that my attitude is just as incomprehensible to some other people.

Comments

[lunabee34]

Aha!

Looks like the evening is opening up. The baby did not go kicking and screaming into the time change. Will wonders never cease?

First of all, I would never use a loaded term like legitimate or illegitimate to describe any kind of writing. If your writing is doing what you want it to do, then I think that's all that matters. Just because I don't get something or do something differently than someone else does not at all mean I think that person's POV isn't valid or that they're doing it wrong. :)

I also feel a wee bit like a Supreme Court Justice trying to define pornography here. LOL I feel really strongly about my position, but it's also one that I've never examined or tried to articulate in any coherent way. So I appreciate you making me think about what I feel about this issue and why.

I have read this comment thread, and I think inkdust is saying what I mean much better than I did. I just can't imagine writing a story or a novel that I didn't intend to share with someone. Maybe I wouldn't intend to publish it, but I can't imagine writing a story or a novel that only I read.

[sarillia]

I just can't imagine writing a story or a novel that I didn't intend to share with someone. Maybe I wouldn't intend to publish it, but I can't imagine writing a story or a novel that only I read.

See, I knew there were people like that but I didn't realize that they would find my old position of never wanting anyone to so much as glance at my stories so incomprehensible.

I can't say I understand your position fully since that's just not the way my mind works but I accept that this is a very common viewpoint.

[lunabee34]

*hugs*

And thank goodness we don't all think the same way. That would be boring as hell. :)