What motivates you to write?

[Marshmallow Crescendo]

biggrin
Howdy, homesicles.
I felt like asking this question: What motivates you to write? Do you have a specific muse? Do you borrow ideas from other sources & change them to fit your preferences? How do you get rid of writer's block?

There are no wrong answers :3 I'm just curious to see what you guys use to stop procrastinating xD;

 

[Marshmallow Crescendo]

I'll start us off:

In all honesty, I don't really have a specific source of motivation >w> Whenever I get some free time, or whenever I get struck with an idea, I just have to write it down. I write mostly on impulse & try to get as much done in one sitting as I can, rather than work diligently over a long period of time. Also, I procrastinate too much. hurr hurr hurr.

 

[Anuttymous]

Generally, I only write when I have a reason, e.g. for a commission.
When I get an idea, I put it into my ideas document, for the future. This is because I've heard that at a young age you get more ideas than at an older age. So when I get older I can use all the ideas when I run out.

I've had one big idea floating around, that I started, but soon realised it didn't quite make sense, so I'm gonna withdraw it until I can figure out how to make it work.  

[Marshmallow Crescendo]

That makes sense. My parents tell me I used to write a lot of poetry when I was young (usually about silly things, like snowflakes & unicorns), so I wish I would have kept some copies around =/

What were some of your ideas? =P

 

[Anuttymous]

Marshmallow Crescendo

That makes sense. My parents tell me I used to write a lot of poetry when I was young (usually about silly things, like snowflakes & unicorns), so I wish I would have kept some copies around =/

What were some of your ideas? =P

Well, the big idea was a really sad story about someone who killed themself because his family died. Rather depressing. I wanted to do it in the style of police reports, and interviews, so in a first person view, but of people seeing the main character. I started planning it and stuff, and then thought...
"Why would the police do reports and interviews over a suicide?"
That's where I got stuck. So that one's in storage for a while.

The newest big idea is a horror story. Although I actually have no other ideas for it, except something I once read in a bunch of short stories. It was pretty scary, and rather nonsensical.

That actually sounds pretty awesome =o police usually don't look too much into a suicide, but psychologists do. Maybe if you were to write about a psychologist/psychiatrist doing the reports you might get more motivation? >w> lol.

 

[Roane Farhall]

Like you, I'm pretty much on impulse. I can't force myself in to it, if I don't feel like writing something I will sit there with a blank document for hours at a time. But every once in a while I just think of a something and I try to get it all written down at once.

There are times when I'll just randomly think of a single line of dialog that I find to be particularly amusing, and then build a scene entirely around that one line. I find those ones to be the most entertaining, honestly.  

[Marshmallow Crescendo]

Roane Farhall

Like you, I'm pretty much on impulse. I can't force myself in to it, if I don't feel like writing something I will sit there with a blank document for hours at a time. But every once in a while I just think of a something and I try to get it all written down at once.

There are times when I'll just randomly think of a single line of dialog that I find to be particularly amusing, and then build a scene entirely around that one line. I find those ones to be the most entertaining, honestly.

lol! How do you do that? =P What kind of lines do create?
/aka, gimmeh samples x3

 

[Roane Farhall]

Marshmallow Crescendo

lol! How do you do that? =P What kind of lines do create?
/aka, gimmeh samples x3

Well, when I figure out a line that I REALLY want to put in, I start thinking a lot harder about the scene it applies to. "What circumstances are there that would lead to this situation? Which characters are present? Where would this fit in along the story line?" Those kinds of things.

Once I figure all that out, it all begins to build itself. (Note: I'm usually working with a set cast that I have already defined for a big fantasy project I've been working on, so the last step is simpler in this case.) I figure out who said the line, then work from their pool of allies for people who would have reactions to either make it funnier or more awesome, depending on where I want to go with it.

As far as samples go... Doesn't make any sense out of context, and it was modified before being implemented in the storyline, but one of my favorites has been a lead-in to a small fight. (A and B will be our characters for today.)

Quote:

A: "I don't think you should let your guard down just because you caught me by surprise. Off the top of my head, I can only think of two people who have beaten me in a fair fight."

B: "Well then, I suppose it's a good thing for me that this isn't a fair fight."

A: "True enough. Just thought I should warn you, seeing as one of those two people is standing about three feet to your left."

Like I said, I ultimately ended up workshopping it a small bit to fit the scene (and the mood) but that was pretty much what I originally came up with.

(Note: Yes, I write down my ideas in script form. All my rough drafts and such are in script form, actually. It's a quick way to get it saved before I forget it, then I can take the script form and begin writing the actual story later on.)  

[Lydia Blue]

Anything and everything.
Seriously.
Usually I take inspiration and apply it to a specific world and cast of characters, but I do, occaisionally branch out to other people places and times.  

[Reakonte of twin blades]

I draw my own anime characters and I get ideas for the stories I write from them ^_^