cellardoor

isn't that the goal? to get published?

i understand writing for the sake of writing, like dickinson, but don't most of you want to get published for it someday? to maybe change the world?
if you don't want people to know that you write, you shouldn't be on this site.

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If I make it as a writer, I'll write for the hobo, not the professor.

halfapersona

Ah, I'll just stay out of that little side argument and stick to the point. I have the same problem, though I didn't realise until just now that it was this common. The most effective thing I seem to have developed in finishing pieces is to come up with the last line. That way I know what I'm writing towards. Editing and that kind of stuff can come later, and introducing new characters and all the planning, as long as I have a last line (which can also change) I have an aim.

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'Heavy words are so lightly thrown.'

bob rulz

You don't have to get published to get people to know that you write. There's the Internet. There's your friends, your family.

Besides, that's not my point anyway. He never said anything about getting published, therefore the fact that if you can't focus on one idea and get a story finished means that you won't get published helps him in absolutely no way at all. It just states a fact. Not advice. Not help. Just a fact. Besides, some people don't ever want to get published. For me, if I'm ever published, great, but if I'm not, at least I had fun writing and letting my friends, family, and people on the Internet read my work. And I'll have a wealth of worlds to explore in my imagination. Places, people, and things that I've grown attached to. In addition, while yes, a lot of the point of writing is to entertain other people, just like any form of artistic expression, what's the point in doing it if you don't find it enjoyable, and isn't that the main goal anyway? To have fun writing and to please yourself before anybody else?

I have only been posting on this website for maybe a week, and I am shocked at how much some of the people on this website have to bring up the fact that you won't get published if you do this, or don't do this. If they don't ask about what you have to do to get published, why do you have to bring it up? How would it help them in anyway? They never asked about being published, so you are not answering their question.

Oracle

I kept my novel series in the "idea stage" for a good two and a half years. I managed to write piles of notes, so by the time I was ready to start writing the story, I had some really good ideas all fleshed out and ready to go. It helps to give a story some time in the idea stage before writing it. That way most of the good ideas won't come to you while you're in the middle of writing the story.

I write for the sake of writing. Sure, it'd be awesome to see my books in print, but I'd be perfectly satisfied with just having them completed. Even people who want to be published need to write other things for practise. If someone only writes to be published, then do they really enjoy writing?

I guess it really all depends on what drives a person to write. If you want to change the world, then getting published would probably be a neccessity. But not every writer has to write to change the world. Some writers just enjoy the creative outlet of storytelling. Nobody even needs to see your work if you just want to exercise your creativity.

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The bubble is round.