Why do we write?

A recent blog post by an author I follow and respect, Shinzakura, co-author of the incredible Seven Days in Sunny June series, called something into question. Something that is bugging me. A question.

Why? Why do we write?

Shinzakura said that, due to the actions of a few, he lost his motivation to write. Ever since he put up that post, I asked myself as well. Why do I write? And if I write, why do I write pony fanfiction?

Well, the answer to the first question is easier, so how about we tackle that? I've been wanting to write creative prose for a while now, at least a few years. I constantly have ideas, dreams, situations, and contingencies that I would love to explore. When I was younger, I spent many a sleepless night imagining myself being the daring adventurer, the starship captain, the suave romantic, the criminal mastermind. I came up with worlds, and I wanted nothing more than to share them. Because by sharing them, by putting them down on paper, they became real. It was amazing: ideas that I had, things that were never tangible, became a reality, and others could enjoy them.

I had the power to make people laugh, to make people cry. I could make people understand me in a way that no one could otherwise.

As we roll the clock closer to now, I have a lot more in the way of obligations in my life that I have to fulfill. High school started, and taking all honors classes -- and being expected to get straight-A's in them by my parents -- meant I had less time, especially if I wanted to keep up my passion of playing video games. Also starting in high school, I took an interest in computer programming. Right now, I'm also working on a couple of programming-based side-projects, most of which are on the hush-hush right now.

The upshot of all this is that I don't exactly have a lot of time to write. "Denny's" was actually written in basically one sitting, and only edited a few times before I posted it. I was planning to write a sequel, or something else -- anything else. But I also have lacked the motivation and drive to write.

Now, the next question. Why ponies? There are plenty of other things to write about, why have I put this restriction on myself to write about ponies?

Well, the answer to that is probably not one you wanted to hear. Obviously, I watched MLP for the first time, and ended up binge-watching up until season 4. Naturally, I wanted to add my own creations to the fandom, and that played a part. However, the main reason I write exclusively pony-based fanfiction is that FiMFiction.net exists. Here exists a clean, moderated, high-quality publishing environment. There is a smaller number of stories here than on, say, fanfiction.net, and the moderation ensues that they have some degree of quality. The community also possesses a degree of tolerance, constructive criticism, and support for up-and-coming authors. If an author posts here, they don't have to worry as much about being lost in the deluge of content streaming out of other story centers. They have an audience that is immediately engaged since the authors are writing about their favorite characters in a comfortable setting. From a writing perspective, so long as you don't go out of character, you already have a set of characters, locations, mechanics, and other content from the show you can borrow and don't have to invent yourself. This is why things like the [Slice of Life] fic are really common, whereas full-on [Adventure] stories are less so. With [Adventure], you have to create new content, instead of simply re-arranging pre-existing content.

In short, I write pony fanfiction because I'm too much of a coward and not enough of a skilled author to throw my hat into another ring.

Not exactly proud of that fact, to be honest.

Sorry to have such a... serious and dark post, but I think these questions are important. They may even be the most important questions facing artists and writers of all kinds. The simple question of why.

So, I pose the question to you, those crazy people that liked my story. If you write, why? If you write pony fanfiction, why that? If you don't write at all, why not?

And I pose a challenge: next time you write pony fanfiction, try your best to add something new. Go ahead and experiment with crazy OC's and stuff. If you are afraid of creating something dumb, then you won't end up creating something amazing. If you stick with the ideas that you know, they're the same ideas that everyone else knows, which means they aren't good anymore.

Shinzakura, I doubt you're reading this. But on the off-chance that you are, I'd love to know what you think, too.

May your roads lead you to warm sands, everyone.

Comments

[nightwalker]

In short, I write pony fanfiction because I'm too much of a coward and not enough of a skilled author to throw my hat into another ring.

Quite the case of selling yourself short there. Granted we haven't seen a lot from you but what there was didn't issues with GSP or any of that jazz, showing you have the basics at least on a technical level down. Your first -- and only -- story now has more views than words, a 58:1 like:dislike ratio, and sat in the feature box for... how many days?

Dude, that is called knocking it out of the f--ing park!

So write more, get more confident, branch out, ... , profit. Simple.

As to your questions, I personally write because I've almost always written. It seems to come and go in spurts every few years, but I always come back to it. I enjoy the task. It allows me to create, something I think almost all people crave in their lives. Ponies are just the current outlet that I've decided to focus on. This place is well run, well supported, very active, etc. All good things to have in a writing community. Pretty much anyone can find their taste catered to here, or do the catering should they wish. It's fun to work with others and see what synthesis comes out of it.

Anyway, hope you can find the time to try you hand again; see if the first time out was just a fluke or if you might just have a genuine clue what you're doing. Never know unless you try.

[Rokas]

This one is pleased to see you.

I write because it's probably one of the few things I'm actually good at in the world. Perhaps the only thing. I write pony fanfiction because my mind is the obsessive type, where I get into a fandom and I'm ALL about that fandom. I did it with Star Trek when I was young, Battletech when I was older, and now ponies. Because they're freakin' adorable.

Also I'm practicing my writing craft for when I actually want to try original fiction and hopefully, someday, make a few bucks at it.

And Fimfiction.net's environment and setup certainly helps keep the interest alive.

Also also, screw those a-holes who bothered Shin. Bunch of sand-sucking water apes, the whole lot o' them!