[Jaykobell]

Hey guys.

I was wondering... I've been feeling a little disconnected from writing for a while. It's a little bizarre, and although I want to write, I feel like... there's no point in writing? It's sad to say. I still want to write, but I'm not inspired to write anything...

So I have a few questions for you guys. I'm curious what people think?

What gives you the inspiration and/or will to write?

Do you like your writing style? Do you ever reread your own stories (here on Evelon or elsewhere)?

Do you read other people's stories (here on Evelon or elsewhere)? If you do, do they inspire you to write, yourself?

Just a discussion about writing in general.

[Flame]

I totally know the feeling, and I'd like to hear some input from other people as well. I hit one of those dry spells myself a while ago, which was actually the reason for my lurking/hiatus for the better part of a year or two. I really wanted to write, but I felt like I had no muse for it, or that everything I wrote was just utter crap. I wish that I had some wisdom to impart myself, but honestly, it was kind of a scary time for me since I was afraid that I'd broken my muse or something, and I didn't know whether I'd ever be able to write again. For me, I just ended up waiting it out, and after an indeterminate period of time, it eventually came back to me. I know that's not really helpful at this time for you, but at least I can tell you that if you don't find a solution to get you back into it, it'll eventually return to you after time (at least in my experience).

I really do hope that there are people who have good advice on this topic though, because I know that I'd like to hear it in the event that this happens to me again as well.

[Freezair]

Ahhh, yes. The old "why write?" problem. A crossroads all writers must come to. Blah blah all that introductory stuff.

I am the kind of person who tries, first and foremost, to write the kind of thing I'd want to read. So I do reread my old stuff a lot, but it's also a great incentive to write in general. You can write a story or article in your head a dozen times, but it'll never come out the same way twice. Those really good turns of phrase and clever analogies--they'll get lost in your head if you don't write them down. Plus, it helps you get your ideas out, and you'll see new sides to them that you didn't before. Plus, looking over your old work helps you see how you've grown--and if you like part of it but not all of it, heck, you can always re-write parts of it.

I read a lot of books, so I do read other's stories, but online...? It depends. I don't seek out fanfic much these days. But books definitely inspire me to write; a few times I've put down a good book mid-story because OMG I needed to write NOW.

I don't re-ready my RPs much, though. RPing is kind of my "junk food" writing where I just have fun putting words down and don't worry too much about quality. True, I have a "just write" mentality when I'm doing stories, too, but I get more obsessive about phrasing there.

[ToxicShadow]

The very simple answer is that I write because it makes me happy.

These days, I don't really write anywhere other than on Evelon, as it comes down to me not realistically not having the time. As far as writing styles go, my style varies a little, from character to character. For example, if my character is more of an intellectual type, that will likely be reflected a little in not only what she says, but in the way that I write everything else. If my character is the sort that freely cusses, that will also likely happen outside of just their spoken words. I sometimes describe things in a way that they may describe them.

I don't always like the way I write things out, I even recognize that I use certain words too much in my writing, but that's just how it is. When I'm roleplaying, I don't try to focus on those things too much, since I'm in it to enjoy myself. If a roleplay ends up becoming a point of stress rather than enjoyment, I'm likely to stop replying. I don't write to torture myself, especially now that I only have so much time to do what I enjoy.

I used to read other users' roleplays more often than I do now (again, because of the reality of just not having a lot of free time), but I still read them occasionally. However, I very rarely draw inspiration from roleplays I am not involved in, unless my character is already somehow involved with the characters in that other roleplay. I suppose I don't really draw inspiration from them often because I don't see the stories of other users on Evelon as things I can draw from. It don't like drawing from characters on Evelon (that mine are not involved with) as it seems odd to me, almost like stealing material. It's a bad habit, but I still get a wee bit uncomfortable if I took a long time considering a name (not something exactly common or something that shows up in behindthename) and then I see someone else using it suddenly, after the name of my character shows up in my journal, roleplays, etc. I know that it often happens on accident, too, but it just makes me a bit uncomfortable. I'm trying to get over it, though, because reality has it that, guess what, your name may be unique on one site, but its not unique to the world.

Ah, I was getting a bit off track there.

What I draw a lot of inspiration from, especially these days, are songs, manga, anime/Korean dramas (or the FEW other shows I watch), and video games. I'll often end up taking a concept I see/read, apply my version of it to a character, and run with it.

For example, I was watching an episode of Doctor Who with my husband a while back. This whole episode was about the idea of there being some kind of alien/monster that was always there, but couldn't be seen. A monster under the bed, if you will. Although, in the episode, such a thing didn't seem to exist, in the end.

I became almost fascinated with such an idea, so I ended up making a character that, indeed, was a monster under the bed. But I had to decide why he was such a thing, what he did, how he did them, etc. After I designed the first one, I ended up coming up with another, and another, but all different characters with different lots in life.

Often times, I end up getting inspired from several things, and that all ends up into one character, or group of characters, too.

[zapdragon555]

I write mainly because I enjoy exploring my characters, and often times, it helps me get through feelings IRL. Also, ultimately, I think I'm fairly good at it, and I enjoy reading the things I write. x'D  I just find it fun! I admittedly also do write so that other people will read it; most of the time, I absolutely love to hear that people read / enjoy my writing, and it's really encouraging.

When I find myself having trouble writing, it could just be a lack of ideas. Thinking up new alternate stories to put characters in (AUs, basically) or making entirely new characters to try out, or roleplaying characters from a franchise is usually what I do to get back into the swing of writing. I can't seem to keep up long stories very well, and stick to short things, because I seem to get burned out on longer things (sans certain characters, who I seem to be able to RP indefinitely pfft).

I do like to read others' writing, when I have the time! I love to see what other people come up with. So, uh... long and the short of it... I write because it's a fun way to be creative and discover more about my characters. It's more fun, in my opinion, to RP characters you don't know a lot about, and let them discover themselves in media res. Makes them seem almost living, really. But that's just me!

[Kallile]

Hmmm, that's a tough one.

I write for a lot of reasons. For me it's a stress relief, an escape, and my way of detoxing from the day. I don't have to think about what is going on at work/home/life for an hour or so--just submerge myself into a character's life.

I'm inspired by a lot--mostly songs, sometimes TV shows I'm really into or movies that have a culture I'm fascinated by. My will to write comes from how much I talk with my RP partner. That's why Citanul and I have so many RPs going at any one time--we are almost always chatting on Skype and he really helps keep the plotlines fresh in my mind and makes me want to keep going with them. The less I chat with someone, the more easily distracted I get.

My writing style is the bane of my existence, honestly. I hate rereading most of my newer threads--my mind has changed so much and my attention to detail has slipped drastically. I try to keep getting back to when I feel I was a 'good' writer, but I'm realistic that life as of now isn't going to allow me the time or the sanity to be able to return to that frame of mind I once had when I was a pretty care-free college kid.

I read a lot of Neil Gaiman's works--I find his style and his choice of story very close to what I wish for myself and therefore very inspiring. It's hard to find the time to read, but I do try and read either a chapter or a short story every week. He said in a talk I recently went to that "if you want to write well, read everything."

[Freezair]

Something that I find is a pretty good motivator for me is to listen to a really good instrumental piece of music and to tell myself that I want to write a scene worthy of being underscored by that music.

Like this one.