I'm not sure if this thread will go anywhere, but I've been looking over the story threads here on the forum, and wanted to make a place where we could talk about the ups and downs of writing stories if we wanted to. This is NOT a story thread, so don't post any stories in here.
I've been writing for years now. I'm self-educated and self-motivated, having grown comfortable with word-crafting over time. Story writing to me is 5 parts inspiration, 20 parts frustration, and 10 parts mechanical inclination (yeah, that totals 35, but who cares
). Oral story telling is much different than writing, to be sure...being a good story teller in no way prepares you to be a good story writer. It is possible to be both, or either one. When the mood strikes me I can spin a tale to an audience, but for the most part I am a writer, tinkering around with words at my own pace in solitude.
Think of the wizards in D&D...poring over spellbooks, filling their minds full of runes and forgotten languages. That is the realm of the writer. Why do wizards do that stuff? Well, all I can think of is that they are driven to do it. Same with writing. Anyone can write if they learn how, but not everyone will be a writer. It takes stubborness and insane dedication like those fantasy wizards in order to keep doing it. Sometimes, I get tired of it and take a break, but it always lures me back.
Maybe we can start this off by asking a question: why do you write?
My answer: I am drawn to do it like a moth to a flame. Something about being totally in control of something that *I* am making, where I make the rules, is irresistable to me. I am mechanically inclined but don't care to mess around with engines. Math is at once fascinating but incredibly boring. I just have this unquenchable desire to
create, and writing fulfills this desire like nothing else can.