Why do you write?

What motivates you to write fictional stories? This motivation is something I've been thinking about quite a lot at late as I've shelved all my stories and haven't written since May, (aside from poetry that is.)

When I wrote Into This Mind, I was writing sort of 'for' this friend who was interested in my story. I was super charged and psyched about writing. I had (and still have) a list of story ideas. I wasn't very fond of the editing phase, especially given I'm not one to reread stories that I like, let alone rereading the same one 10-20 times.

The time I spent on my book was nearly an obsession. Staying home, typing on beautiful sunny days, missing out on time with family and friends, I didn't do much in the way of volunteer work, it started to suffocate me.

For someone to really enjoy writing, I believe they must love it. They must love expressing their ideas on paper, and that their main goal is to release their stories. So writing is a release. Having readers is a perk, being published a bigger perk, and making a living writing some fantastic dream to be paid for doing something you'd be doing regardless. And that's it, I believe the writing needs to be something you'd do regardless. If someone told you that you had zero chance of getting published, it wouldn't matter, you would keep writing. If they told you that NO ONE would ever read your stories, you'd still write.

I write poetry, close to 700 poems since I was around 12 years old. Sometimes entered a contest, but they're mainly scams . . . I write poetry to express my feelings, that is the main goal, and I mainly write when I'm sad so I cry into the paper.

I've been much happier not writing, but still, there are times, when I think of my two WIP and feel like they're quietly chirping to me. But no, I tell myself, I don't want to go down that road again. Because writing fictional stories to me NEEDS a purpose. I need that reader that wants the story, and when I open that box, then I want to be published, and I can't quiet the yearning so I dosed it and blew it completely out.

By not writing I can read, by not writing I can spend more time volunteering, time with family, friends and my cats.

So do you yearn to write, or do you yearn to be published? If the greater yearning is to be published and have a career working out of your home, writing could really be a frustrating downward spiral.

The Invisible Ring by Anne Bishop

I received a copy of the Invisible Ring that I won in an online drawing.
I started reading it last night and have been finding excuses where I can keep reading it today - clearly I sign that I find it captivating.
The only thing I really don't care for is seems like every page has something sexual on it and it does get tiresome.

I would not have purchased this book, based on what it's about but since I won it, I thought that I'd read it. From the back of the book: "Jared is a Red-Jeweled Warloard bound as a pleasure slave by the Ring of Obedience. After suffering nine years of torment as a slave, he murdered his owner andescaped--only tobe caugth and sold into slavery once again."


I'm torn between wanting to rush out an buy all her books, or not. Is this common for Anne Bishop? Are all her books so ladened with sex? I feel like the use of sex in books is a cheap way to fill up pages with words. She has a fantastic story line here shame she had to riddle Invisible Ring with so much sex!

The story also repeats thoughts quite a lot, which is surprising. I would have thought that an author of so many books would have learned to be more compact with her wording.

Yes, in spite of my comments, I have my nose in this book none stop.
The sex scenes are short and not too graphic so I can read them quickly and get to the meat and more interesting parts of the story!

It's a cool story, be great movie, well . . . if they can pull out some of the sex crap, otherwise it would be a XXX rating!