I'm not sure if there is some established protocol for new members to introduce themselves - so apologies if I'm unknowingly violating it.
I figured, though, that an easy, broad question might be a good way to introduce myself. So, here it is: exactly what leads you to write?
I'm more concerned with what prompts you to write at any given moment in time, than what started the ball rolling however long ago. I've been struggling with writer's block (writer's apathy?) for a long time now, and just recently started writing something new. My solution, in the end, was simply to stop <i>thinking</i> about writing something, sometime, later, and actually writing something. That seemed to work. But do any of you have some unusual psychological or physiological stimuli that instils in you a sudden and urgent desire to write?
Hopefully this question is not so tired and dull as to gain some responses.
Oh, and for the record - my name is Shaun Green, I prefer to be known as Shanu (just that little bit more unusual than my bread'n'butter given name), I'm a 21 year old English lit graduate, and my favourite authors range from Alastair Reynolds to Frank Herbert, and from China Mieville to Kim Stanley Robinson.
Cheers!
What makes me write on a daily basis is that the story must come out. Another aspect (sort of a push-and-pull) is that if I don't work on it every day, it will never be finished; if it isn't finished, it can't get published.
I sit down and write because it is 8:00 a.m. and I always write at 8:00 a.m. after I check my e-mail and writer forums.
In fact, scientific evidence (or as scientific as psychology can get given the high concern over ethics) suggests that forcing yourself to write (or run, or kick box, or paint, or or...) at a specific time every day is one of the best ways to get yourself to do something.
If you're struggling with writing, the first suggestion I would make is that you find a time every day that you can write. It doesn't matte when and it doesn't matter how long. Let's say it's 11:00 p.m. after everyone else has gone to bed. Get your but in the chair and write at 11:00 p.m. every day. Don't worry about making it sound good or making it peotry. Write complete and utter crap. (It has been suggested that every writer must write a million words of crap anyway.) Just write, and get in that mindset. Eventually, when it comes to 11:00 p.m. it will just be time to write and your mind will know it and not understand what you're doing watching Jay Leno when his monologues aren't as good as they used to be anyway. :-)
I think for most writers it's simply the old BIC trick. (Butt In Chair) You give it the same attention and commitment you do a job. It's awfully nice to think that writers have some psycho-anomoly that allows them to wax poetic at any given moment, but the reality is that it's work, just like any other career.
Sure, there are times when the ink flows over the page with greater ease than at others(some call it the presence of the muse), and there are times when inspiration hits (which is why I carry a notebook with me EVERYWHERE I go). But for the most part it's simply doing it. Every day. Without fail. Even if it's only a sentence or two.
[This message has been edited by djvdakota (edited October 09, 2004).]
So, in other words, "Crap, I'm feeling totally uninspired and don't feel like writing at all, but I better get SOMETHING on this stupid page if I ever want to see a contract."
I'd rather have a burning desire driving me to write, but that comes along rarely. For all the in-between time, it's just forcing myself to do it.
Djvdakota, I also used to carry a notebook around with me wherever I went but I've swapped it for a dictophone now. It's smaller and I find it quicker and easier to use.
I also keep a spreadsheet with my daily word counts in it. I can then plot them on a graph, and I know if I'm falling behind schedule...
quote:
exactly what leads you to write?
Beer.
Either too much or not enough.
Of course, happiness also inspires me to take on WAY too many other projects and not get the BIC as much as I should.
It's a double-edged sword...as always.
[This message has been edited by dspellweaver (edited October 09, 2004).]
quote:
The only annoying way of introducing yourself around here is to submit something for critique the day you sign on and then never participate in any other areas of the forum, nor offer to critique others' work for them.
Well, I would disagree with that, there are a lot of annoying ways of introducing yourself. But the above is one of the winners, particularly if you then react childishly to every bit of criticism you recieve. Ah, but those are the most fun...as long as it happens while KDW is away 
Incidentally, I found another great way of prompting oneself to write today. I've been working on a new personal website (as the domain registration on my old one expired and I've decided to start afresh). I was adding links to various authors I liked who had good sites - and ended up browsing through them, reading, laughing, opening MS Word, and writing... aha! A new technique!
But what will I do when I have exhausted the sites of my favourite authors?
I'm sure by then I shall have though of something. 
Cheers for all your feedback, anyway... I think forcing myself to write in the morning, feeling guilty if I don't, and bribing myself with beer sound like some particularly good options. ;D
I have a dictaphone, which would be great for recording ideas, but unfortunately I work in a secure lab and no recording equipment is allowed. Not even pens and paper. *rolls eyes* I have to e-mail ideas to myself.
Thieftess, I used to find that unhappiness inspired me to write - but these days I find that it is the opposite. Fiery enthusiasm is what seems to get me in the mood for writing now.
Kathleen - how-to-write books do that to me, too - although I have to admit that I have never actually attempted one of the exercises they prescribe. Hmm.
Well, thanks for all the responses, folks. I almost feel right at home already, heh!
Cheers!
As for your dictaphone, you could act as if it were a cell phone (mobile?--I know they call them handies in Austria, but I don't know what they call them in England), and talk your story into it as you travel to and from work.
That is, unless people in England are more polite than people in the US and they don't talk on their cell phones no matter where they are or who is near them. I wouldn't want to encourage you to do something rude.
Oh, and people talk on their phones all the time. It's only considered obnoxious when you're REALLY LOUD and on a crowded bus or some such.
BTW, is the BIC part of the HUB upgrade?
I love to write. Simple as that Who needs any other motivation?
I am glad that another Brit has joined this merry crew. Just remember, that annoying is sometimes good. We all learn when someone else puts their foot in it big time. And woth Survivor on the lookout for fresh prey, it keeps us all on our toes.
What usually get's me to write is the unspeakable horrors that commence if I do not.
If it is bad it will make me stop reading it,
If it is relly good it will make me finish it very quickly,
and if it is good enough to catch my attention but not good enough to hold it indefenitly it makes me want to write.
Merlin, I see what you mean. Unfortunately your third category usually leaves me tinkering with a few things, then being unable to restrain my curiousity and going on to finish the book!
Pure Dynasty - so, you are a sort of Lovecraftian figure, I take it? Beware the shoggoths!
yanos - where abouts in the UK? I'm in wet 'n windy Brighton. Charming weather.
I'll leave it at that for now - I keep writing excessively long posts...
Welcome to Hatrack!!!!
[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited October 24, 2004).]
Susan
Woh. I hadn't realized how old I myself am on this forum. I wonder who's posting and older than I besides Survivor.
You all inspire me, in different ways. But I have to ask, is an inspired Mike a good thing?
I have participated in a number of online workshops and critique groups and this group beats the others all hollow when it comes to good will, focus, lack of pretension, common sense and all-around thoughtful comments and advice.
I also like the simplicity of the bulletin board interface, which puts me in mind of the difference between good word choice and the use of jargon. Other boards are fairly useless due to the sheer complexity of getting around in them. It takes more time to navigate than it does to read and post. "Jargon is language more complex than the concept it serves to express." and those boards are pure jargon. Oter boards are pure drama, and if you are a politician-in-training, probably worth your while. Me, I prefer this simplicity and clarity. I have no need for dog-n-pony shows.
I have participated in a number of online workshops and critique groups and this group beats the others all hollow when it comes to good will, focus, lack of pretension, common sense and all-around thoughtful comments and advice.
Small world...
That said, I've yet to meet anyone who had ever actually been to Luddington, let alone lived there.
And Pyre Dynasty IS a really cool screen name.
Oh, and Luddington... there is nothing to know. Three roads in and out of the village, and they all meet up in the middle.