What REALLY inspires you? ;)

I am not having kids. Therefore I can write forevah!

I need to write. **smug look on his face**

Darn kids! Daddy, can I have french fries? Take me to soccer pracitce! Don't forget Tae Kwon Do. Da-ee! Poopies in diapah! Can I have food and a home? Can I have clothes? Can I, can I, can I-

No! Get jobs, ya little free-loaders! I'm sure there's a sweatshop somewhere nearby...

The most rewarding and the most aggravating thing you can do to yourself is have kids, and they really cut into your writing time. Wouldn't trade mine for success as a writer, but like you, I'm trying to become successful at it despite the demands of the day job and the kids.

Haven't had much luck so far...

Hmm, good to think about.

For me, I began writing again this past fall when the writing bug hit me after a several-year hiatus. I got the wild hair to give publishing a shot and got a positive response, so I thought, "I want me some more of that!"

My main motivation though, is that i'm a full time mama--have been for 8 years now. Anyone that's a parent knows that you sacrifice a lot of yourself when you have kids. So much energy goes into the little ones that sometimes you forget who you are and what you can do.

I just happened to rediscover that I love to read and write. My brain needs the stimulation. I need something I can do for just ME. Something I can feel proud of. Something I'm good at. Something I enjoy working on. And if I can get people interested in what I'm writing and make a little money to boot, all the better!

I wish I'd done my answer like your answer

Ooh look, a pseudo-interview.

What drives the life into your lungs, that pushes you into writing?

I guess it's a sort of compulsion to express myself, to create something of me, and put it forth into the world. A way to validate my existence, if you will. I write, therefore I am.

Seek you fame in the world of literary history?
How about fame in the world of Pop culture?
Are you looking for a name? Or a paycheck?

I'm actually half-allergic to fame. Famous people seem fraught with difficulties that I don't need in my life. I already have sleeping troubles, so a book tour would be exhausting, and bright flashes give me migraines, so no flash photography please. Not to mention the social stresses that they suffer. I like my marriage intact and my voicemail empty. It's a major reason I use a pseudonym when I write. It can get famous and leave me in peace.

I'd love to make enough from writing to pay off the mortgage and get my kids through preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school and college. My parents paid dearly for their goal of getting us kids through school, and I feel the same burden on me. If I could make it easy, I would. But aside from that, lots of money? Hah. I literally would not know what to do with it.

Do you wish to create a piece of art that rises above the stagnant norms our society has fallen into? Or are you trying to make quality entertainment that rises above the sensationalism our entertainment industry has so sadly sold its soul to? Are those two things really that different?

I think that the "stagnant norms" are the fault of the publishing industry at large, which tries its best to bet on a "sure thing", and floods the markets with similar books to hedge its bets. So I don't really think it's that hard to rise above it, unless you're specifically writing to the tastes of what's already been published.

Me, I'm probably a hybrid there. I want my writing to appeal to the people who read similar adventure fantasy books. They're my target audience. But I also respect my own voice as unique. In fact, I shamelessly gather quotes on my style from comments left on my work online.

Do you write what you wish to be judged for? Or do you write what you've judged will be a desired reading?

My ultimate goal is to be understood, with books as my method of communication. I have to write clearly for others to get my point, to see what I'm pointing them to (whatever that is). But I also have to keep their attention or they'll wander off and do something else. I expect I'll be judged on whatever I write, whether I want to be or not, but I also hope that what I write is desired reading by at least a few people.

Yes, money would be nice...

I have to back up a bit in order to answer this.
First off I didn’t start writing for any other reason that I wanted too. As for inspiration…
Wow this is deep as W/G noted. Money was not it. My business was doing well at the time.
Fame in pop culture. No I am just the ordinary guy.
Fame in the literary world. Wouldn’t that be a hoot!
I guess I write because I like to make people happy. I do all I can to please people in my everyday life. So my writing is just an extension of that. I like the way D/A said it, I feel that too. And what G said about others soaking in his work.
I hope that some day people will discover my writing and that it will brighten their day in some small way. So I guess that is my inspiration…. Money would not be bad either.

Strongly on DA and WG's frequency. I have gone way past the time where I believe that umpteen millions of dollars will immediately satisfy my needs - don't get me wrong, we all want freedom from the fear of loss of income, a home above one's head, etc. We all want to travel the world, if we feel like it. Since I was 10 I enjoyed writing exclusively for the act of writing - and when i was a teenager I liked seeing the enjoyment of others soaking in my storytelling creations. Never lost that. Over recent years I want to pursue the logical conclusion, which is to live comfortably and be able to write without fear of the consequences of devoting the much deserved full time ideal.

I just want people to read a good story and go, 'wow, that was interesting and well written, unlike most of the stuff out there today. Who's it by again? E. Carpenter? I'm off to buy the rest of her umpteen novels, because she made me laugh and cry and go to another world'.

That would be nice.

Wargood,

what a great answer. I couldn't for the argumentative life in me come up with a reason to disagree with, dispute or even doubt that response. Thank you.

And yeah, this was a little philosophical, but in my major, the language itself often begs such questions, let alone the practice of using it.

Ooh, I hate philosophy! To answer point by point: Fame would be nice, but it's not as important as creating; I've been around long enough to understand that my name is already mine, and it's more important to be a good man than a great one; A paycheck would be more than nice, and I am indeed seeking one, but I would write whether or not I'll be paid. (have, in fact, for many years now).
As for my art 'rising above the norms'... too deep for me. The critics and experts will decide that. But think on this: Chagall made masterpieces, but a five-year old's crayon drawing brings just as much joy to his intended audience, doesn't it?
And finally, I write what I would enjoy reading, and hope others will as well: It ain't Tolkien, or Crichton, or King. It's me, and I hope others will want to buy my work and enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

So, there are a few ways to look at inspiration. I'm going to go with the, yet unspoken of one.

What drives the life into your lungs, that pushes you into writing?

Seek you fame in the world of literary history?
How about fame in the world of Pop culture?
Are you looking for a name? Or a paycheck?

Do you wish to create a piece of art that rises above the stagnant norms our society has fallen into? Or are you trying to make quality entertainment that rises above the sensationalism our entertainment industry has so sadly sold its soul to? Are those two things really that different?

Do you write what you wish to be judged for? Or do you write what you've judged will be a desired reading?