People really write stories just for themselves? I feel baffled-- writing is hard work
Writing is _fun_. The whole process -- from the original imagineering and primary research phase, through teasing workable plot and pacing into shape, into scene-boarding and finally popping the words into the framework -- is wonderful. It's always a challenge, you never quite know where the journey will take you and, personally, I'm often a bit sad when I've finished something. Of course I'm also often sick to the hind teeth of it and delighted to be over and done with the damn thing... *GRIN*. Depends on whether it was a commission or an idea I came up with, usually...
On top of that, some ideas are so insistent, powerful, painful or generally all-consuming that you have to let them out of your mind and onto paper before your skull explodes. Then the act of writing becomes a catharsis, a way of channelling the pain.
For many people, whether it's the joy of the journey or the pressure of the material, the process of writing is itself a genuine pleasure, and the idea of sharing the results of something so personal is horrendous -- like being filmed making love.
I'm a definite exhibitionist slut when it comes to words. I wouldn't do it at all without some sort of audience, and nowadays rarely consider writing for free (mainly 'cos I can't afford the luxury of the time, sadly). It doesn't mean that I don't feel the pressure of unborn ideas fighting to escape though...
Tim. -- Imagine there were two of you. Which one would win?
tim@midnight.demon.co.uk