At 07:18 PM 16/10/97 -0500, The Eternal Lost Lurker wrote:
As to why *I* write...I write fanfics because it's fun. I get ideas of
things that could/should/would/might happen, or would be fun to see, and I
decide, "well, let's just see..." and write it. That's been the formula
that has produced every single fic I've ever written.
I write because if I don't, the ideas won't go away, and they start
to affect my everyday life because of distraction. I write anime fanfiction
because I enjoyed reading it, and wanted to give back what I had taken. And
I write to improve, and to experiment with styles, aspects, views, and
character design and utilisation. I've never had any writing-training or
read any books on creative writing beyond the pitiful coverage at school. I
prefer to learn by doing, and reading other people's books/stories, rather
than spending time on a creative writing class.
I write because I must.
In the beginning,
before I even knew of RAAC or the FFML, I wrote and sent them to my friends
on AOL. Why? Ego? No.
Don't be so sure. You're dismissing ego out of hand as arrogance, a common
mistake. Ego is NOT arrogance. Ego is self-esteem. Dictionary definition,
in fact. Ego is the belief in yourself, in what you do, that drives you
to actually step forward and DO something.
Without Ego, civilisation would not exist in anywhere near it's current
form. Ego built the pyramids. Ego built the Great Library of Alexander.
Ego built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Ego created sculpture, poetry,
art. Ego leads us onwards, upwards, making us improve, create, evolve.
People are way too quick to dismiss ego as a disgusting, destructive
force. All I can say is that they're thinking of ego's worst aspect:
arrogance.
I wanted to share, and wanted to see what they had to
say about it.
Ego. You had enough confidence in your abilities that you shared it. You
might have been nervous about it, or unsure, but it sure still sounds like
ego to me.
I admit that now, here on the FFML, I've developed quite an ego. However,
one thing has not changed: I write for fun. The fics I abandoned, I did not
abandon for lack of attention...to this day, "Faux Existence" has outbid
everything else I write except "Onna: Red Side" for attention. I still get
death threats <shoots Zen an evil glance> about by abandonment of FE.
Attention has nothing to do with it, in my book. I am equally proud of
100% Woman and I'm Here to Help. 100% has, so far, received at least
5 to 6 times as many comments(IHtH still did very well for comments, but...),
probably because it's (a)Ranma, the largest readership base, (b)It got helped
by Taleswapper/Fanfic awards. People, I care about those things, but not for
the reason you think. I care because they are, in effect, ADVERTISEMENTS.
Just like any public C&C on this list is, in effect, an advertisement.
People read a story if it's been in either the awards or Taleswapper's
comments. This is true, I know it to be true because I saw people's
comments in requests.
I would like as many people as possible that care about the series I write
in to read my stories. Some will hate them(one of my prereaders for 100%
hates practically everything I write. It makes him one of the best prereaders
I've ever seen, he's not at all afraid to hold back.), some will like them,
some will even love them. Any way it happens, they're AFFECTED. Their lives
are a little happier, sadder, or more annoying than before they read. THAT is
what I, personally, seek from sending stories to a public list like this,
raac, and my webpage. That is the source of my 'fun', not the actual writing.
And I will never, ever feel like this is wrong.
(... oh, ok, and (c)IHtH is not at all a 'Sailor-flavour' story. Sailor
fanatics hated it. On the other hand, I got the vote of the republican
readers. ^_^ )
************
Mark Doherty - mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au
The Weekly FFML Synopses Lists are at:
http://www.uq.edu.au/~zzhdoher/list.html
My fics are back -
http://www.tass.org/~mdoherty/index.html
"Time grows short, but I remain tall."