If a story is on a website, and nobody reads it, is there a story at all? · 9:36am Feb 28th, 2018
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The title isn't a bitchy remark, by the way.
It's a question I started asking myself, but in a different way. Plus the entire debate I had wouldn't fit in the title screen without becoming annoying, so there's that too. My point is: do we write/tell stories because they're stories, or do we write/tell them for the sake of an audience? Why do you write? Why do you read?
When I say 'audience', I'm talking about anyone at all. Not just a collection of internet strangers, who may or may not be dogs, but you as a writer as well. I try to write the sort of things I want to read, or listen to, more than anything else. While what I write may not age well, and show my distinct lack of skill as a writer, it was 100% the kind of breakneck awesomeness I wanted to read about and see. It was a wonderful screenplay in my mind, that I couldn't quite put on paper/whatever the internet is made of.
So when I came back to writing, my first question was who am I writing for? I look at some kinds of fiction and see the same stuff being churned out in insane volumes of carbon copy work. Not saying that all of it is bad, I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but when I see an advert that says "A shocking thriller, with a twist!" I'm sat here thinking 'isn't that what makes it a thriller?' A thriller with a twist is about as normal as butter on bread. It's filling, and it could be the best damn bread and butter you've ever had, but is that it?
Where's the jam? Where's the cheese I can't pronounce? Where's the filling? What's the point?
Bit hypocritical, coming from the guy writing fanfiction about pastel horses and then recursive fanfiction about pastel horses in a post-apocalypse, but I'll openly admit my hypocrisy. If it wasn't ponies, it would be 40k.
The point is this kind of mass produced writing is written to be picked up and read, like it's some kind of banal transaction of words to brain. Some of these stories I've read are rather flat, they're there for the sake of being there. The same can be said for some of the biggest writers in the world. I love some of Dickens' work, but some parts are clearly there because he needed a paycheck. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not how I'd want to write.
Even with all its flaws, I hope my passion and love for writing comes through much like it did in years long gone. Even if no-one reads it, I'm glad that my stories exist on here instead of staying inside my head. That's good enough for me.
Now go drop a favourite or two on my fics so I can feel validated in my terrible thought process.
I'm still trying to figure out why to write. You figure it out let me know.
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It's mostly guilt and better than my previous hobbies... so twice the amount of guilt.
In all seriousness, I just enjoy it. It's a good laugh even when it comes out bad.